


Throw Me A Bone

by Flurrious



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Friendship, Gang Violence, Hospital, Monsters, Nurse - Freeform, Other, Post-Game, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-19
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-05-14 23:00:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 27,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5762203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flurrious/pseuds/Flurrious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You are a human nurse that works at The Hospital of Humans and Monsters. Things are going well for you there, but there's always an influx of monster patients with serious injuries caused by abrasive humans. It's been this way since monsters returned to the surface over two years ago. At least the violence has died down, albeit minimally.</p>
<p>Thankfully, your closest friend reminds you how amazing it is to work as a nurse: helping make patients' lives a little brighter. And your boyfriend is always there to hold you and make you feel safe in such a hostile world.</p>
<p>Your life takes a sharp turn down a dangerous path when you realize you're being tailed one day by men who don't seem very ecstatic about your affiliation with monsters...</p>
<p>I know it's been a while since I've updated this fic, but it's mostly been a case of writers block. I don't know if I'd call this "fluff" or if it's just not totally "eau so passion", but it's just kinda casual, you know? And the explicit warnings... well, it's not for nothing. Eventual smut! (!!!Eventually!!!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You Were Going To Die

**Author's Note:**

> **Hi! I moved this story from fanficiton.net to here, and my username there is either Flurrious, just like mine here, or "Just the biggest dork." We're both the same people, so relax!**  
>  Howdy everyone! If you want to read a fanfiction, but either want to skip the smut or read it exclusively, I'll make it a bit easier! Anytime there's raunchy material, I'll label the chapter with asterisks on either side of the title.  
> So, in other words, for all you angels and sinners out there-- enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy, ya'll! I have a little question for you darling angels and angles alike!  
> I've rewritten the first couple of chapters. I haven't updated them here or on Fanfic dot net, but I sort of wanna.  
> Honestly, the only changes are more-so for aesthetic reasons-- nothing major will be changing. You won't have to, by any means, reread any chapters to understand the rest of the fic.  
> (but I realized I had to do SOMETHING because in the "Culinary Prowess of a Skeleton", I listed you guys as having FINISHED YOUR SPAGHETTI LIKE THREE TIMES!!! HOW DID I EVEN MANAGE TO PULL THAT OFF!  
> Mostly mistakes like that, is all I'm fixing. Improving flow.
> 
> So, I guess, what I want to know, is should I go through with this now, or sort of do this later, when the fanfic is further along? If I rewrite previous chapters, I obvs won't be making new ones for a while. But, doing so might reignite my vigor for writing this thing! So, I'd love to know what you guys think! Just say it in the comments, or go to my tumblr (which can be found [HERE!](http://flurry-blue.tumblr.com/)
> 
> I'll do an ask thingy, and you guys are free to answer!
> 
> Thanks for taking a look at this, either new or loyal readers! Please enjoy my broken ingles

It was kind of funny how everything started, and devolved into what it was. It always amused you how tiny things that people seldom notice end up changing the world in tremorous ways.

You always had a scientific mind about you, or at least a philosophical one. You always thought in metaphors and symbols, like juxtaposing light rain to new beginnings, or how you associate black cats with bad luck. Others call it superstition, but you called it observation.

So, it was no wonder when a black cat crossed your path after it had rained that something terrible happened that would change your life forever.

Your heart was racing at a discomforting pace while you frantically struggled for help.

"Aww, c'mon babe, stop that silly wigglin'. It's not gettin' you nowhere."

"Yeah, sugar tits, we know the sinful stuff you been into. Naughty girls like you go to hell, you know. You're gonna find yourself most comfortable if you stop strugglin' now."

You continued to struggle and scream into the dark one's hand, to, seemingly, no avail. You were determined to get out of this mess, and you sure as hell weren't going to submit to any smelly suburb assholes. Finally, you manage to wriggle yourself out of the cloth over your mouth and bite the dark guy's hand, to which he shouts, "BLOODY FUCKING HELL!"

"Like hell I'm going to stop struggling." You immediately regret having said anything at all when the fat one slaps you across the face with the back of his hand. Unfortunately, that also meant that your face was now bleeding profusely due to his spiked leather gloves.

You scream bloody murder.

"Shit, the bitch wasn't supposed to be A FUCKING BITCH! C'mon, jefe, we gotsta kill this bitch and get outta here before somebody-"

You had preemptively squeezed your eyes shut at what was coming, but nothing did. You almost dared to open your eyes, but you heard the shouts of the two men and loud banging somewhere to your right. At least, you thought so; it was hard to concentrate on anything. You felt terribly light-headed, and it had only been seconds since the guy slapped you. You felt blood gush out of your head. Even with your eyes closed, everything looked red.

This was it.

You were going to die.

You faded out to the faraway sound of someone right next to you.

* * *

**NOTES** :

If you're confused, don't worry. You're kind of supposed to be a bit **:/**

The character's gender is female. I don't ever want to use underlines in place of names, so I'm using the only nurse reference I have in my reservoir: NURSE JOY! Mostly though, just Joy. I don't want to use ambiguous pronouns ALL the time, but I also don't want to blatantly give your character a name that isn't yours. So, that's my lame solution **=:3**

I also want to point out I've never in my life been a nurse. Or lived in anything but a small-ass town. So, if I start contradicting myself, uh, you can let me know. Or, you know, let me stew in my own ignorance =w=

Like I've said, this is my first ever fanfic, so yeah. Criticism, praise, insults, questions, suggestions, and just plain-old comments are greatly appreciated!


	2. The Painful Memory; The Scars

You awaken to your face throbbing, as though it had been run over by twenty trains with spikes, and they were all on fire.

You try to move, but none of your muscles, none of your limbs would cooperate. It took a moment to register that your eyes were still closed, and you tried to open them. You succeeded, but everything was still dark. There was a faint light coming from a window, but the curtains blocked most of it. In the sliver of light it provided, though, you could tell it was definitely nighttime. Scanning what little of the room you could see, you noticed that there was someone in a chair, leaning their head on the same surface you laid on.

You tried to make heads or tails of what or who it was, but none of its features were distinguishable in the darkness. You brought a reluctant hand to your face, and you grimace. There are stitches running along your nose, in two distinct lines. One line is much more painful than the other, and is far longer, but the other one was right between your eyes.

You laid in silence for awhile, trying to contemplate the events that brought you here. You were a nurse at a local hospital, named **The Hospital of Humans and Monsters**. As kind as the monster king was, he was pretty much a dork when it came to naming things. That aside, you had been walking with one of your fellow nurses, a monster, to grab something to eat while on break. You admitted it was kind of strange, having monsters live with humans, and Whitesong, your anthropomorphic bunny friend couldn't agree more.

You two loved talking to each other, mostly because you couldn't be more different:

She was so outgoing, and got bored with concepts, rules, places, and people very quickly, or at least, that's what she always claimed. You knew it made her happy to be working at that hospital, though, helping monsters and humans progress together, putting aside their differences to become better beings. It gave her purpose, and you found yourself agreeing.

* * *

Whitesong had been telling you about this amazing restaurant for a while, and only today had you finally caved in and asked where it was. She beamed at you with a buck-toothy smile, and claimed, "It's a couple of blocks away, but in order to get there, eat, and get back in time for our shifts to resume, we're going to have to take some alleyways."

"Chica, we talked about this. This isn't an insanely large city, but it's big enough that you ought to worry about alleyways. They're not always safe, you know. And we've gotten our fair share of beaten-up monsters that chose to take that unnecessary risk." She gave you a look that made you feel kind of guilty, but also relieved.

"Okay, okay, Nurse Joy, you win. I won't go running down any alleyways, you've proven your point. We'll have to go to Grillby's sometime though, it's so divine!"

"Well, I mean, from what I know of you, you'd be best to know, you alcohol-loving Lopunny."

"Don't call me that please."

"Only if you stop calling me Nurse Joy."

She shrugs, with a playful smile on her sunny-yellow face. It was so awesome that she actually took the nicknames in stride, considering it's all a reference to a video game where humans capture creatures that resemble monsters and make them fight each other.

You two ended up enjoying Muffet's Bakery's delicious croissants (so delicious that you wondered what kind of ingredients could make such a wonderful pastry), having some tea, and paying a large tip to your server (a spider). When you two were finished, you walked outside and realized it had started raining at some point.

"Great. We're going to be soaked," she whined.

"It's not really raining that hard, chica. It's not that big of a deal," you offer. She pouts much in the way a child would.

"I miss the snow in Snowdin sometimes. At least the snow didn't drench my luxurious fur in freezing water."

"It's probably going to stop raining the second we get back to the hospital."

"Dammit my beautiful fur is going to be ruined and I blame you for everything."

"Yup," you reply.

You saw a black cat stroll past, running into one of the alleys. Must have been a stray. Remembering the human superstition, you were suddenly filled with apprehension. It was weird, but you swore someone had been following you for the short time you've been out of Muffet's Bakery, and it put you at unease. You hadn't given much thought to it until they were still behind you minutes later. Suddenly remembering the stories that littered the news of humans that would stalk monsters and monster-loving humans and kill them, and it didn't matter who saw: you shivered involuntarily.

That particular news was exclusive to this town, and you were sure that these guys did not mean well.

Fearful for Whitesong's safety, you prompted her to go on ahead to the hospital, and with the rain threatening to go heavy, she didn't question you and said she'd see you in five minutes.

When she had turned the corner, you realized that the men still must have wanted to attack you. You decided the best thing to do was pretend you didn't know they were there.

Worst. Mistake. Ever.

You heard their footsteps increasing in pace behind you, and you decided it'd egg them on if you tried running. That thought was short-lived when they put their hands over your eyes and mouth, and coerced you into an alleyway. _Dammit_ , you thought. _This is it. This is how I'm going to die._

You hear voices overlap each other, one asking why you sent your bunny bitch away, the other insulting you and calling you vile names. Your head is spinning, so the only phrases you pick up are "Dumb bitch" and "Monster fucker".

How they knew you dated a handsome anthropomorphic monster, you had no idea. But your suspicions of who these guys were had been confirmed: they were some of the assholes who killed monsters and their human friends for fun.

You hoped that Whitesong would realize something was wrong, because it had definitely hit the five minute mark a minute ago. You were painfully close to the hospital, just over a block away. Your heart sank though, when you overheard what the assholes said they were going to do to you. They started messing with your clothes, and you struggled more.

_No, no, no, no, nonononono, not like this. I can't… it can't happen like this!_

"Aww, c'mon babe, stop that silly wigglin'..."


	3. A Brief Interrogation by a Fish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to be clear: Whitesong IS Drunk Bunny.  
> =:3

Your body tremored when you remembered those men. Those pricks must have come from the asscrack of Earth, because they smelled like butt and acted like total dicks. Your fury turned into worry when you remembered about Whitesong. _Oh no, what if some of those assholes got her?!_ You desperately tried to move, but your body felt sore, and your face felt like it was on fire. All you did was shimmy around in the bed, and the figure next to you stirred.

You froze, and watched as the silver light shone on her face. She was definitely a monster, judging by the way-too toothy smile. She had something hanging off of either side of her face, and she had hair… you almost could have mistaken her for a human.

"About time you woke up, lady!" She sounded like she had just woken up herself, which was probably the case. She was tomboyish, and despite having just most-likely napped, sounded incredibly powerful and authoritative.

You winced at the sound of her voice, and it made your face scrunch up, the pain of the stitches thoroughly unpleasant.

"Oh, uh, sorry lady. Didn't mean to make your face hurt." You take another look at her face: one of her eyes seemed yellow, and she appeared to be wearing red eyeshadow, but the other eye was covered up with an eyepatch.

Then again, it really was hard to tell in the dark.

"Name's Undyne, lady. And, well, I'd ask for yours, but I already know it. Your friend, uh, colleague, uh, nurse buddy came in profusely saying she was sorry before the head nurse lady gave her the day off."

"Wait, my friend? Was it Whitesong?!"

"Yeah, I think that's what her name was-"

"Oh, thank god she's okay!" You heaved a sigh of relief, and you didn't even know you'd been holding your breath. Your shoulders drooped. "If those assholes had done anything to her, I'd have kicked their sorry asses."

"Actually, lady, someone up and did that for you already. He, uh, saved you actually." You remembered something had happened to the men from the alleyway just as you were blacking out, but you didn't have the capacity to know what was going on. You were bleeding a lot by then, already.

"Who.. so what happened? How did they save me? What's their name? Oh my god, I have to thank them!"

"Whoa, calm down there, lady, I honestly don't know much. Uh, the guy that saved you. His name's Sans. As for how he saved you, I have no flippin' idea. As far as I knew, he was kind of a wimp."

She paused, contemplating something. "But apparently, he's been hiding _something_ from us because when the police and I reached the alleyway where it all happened, he was just casually walking away. The two thugs were knocked unconscious, and were hanging out of a seriously banged-up dumpster."

"So… Sans? You said his name's Sans?"

"Yeah, lady, his name is Sans."

"Can I meet him?" You felt so dazed and lightheaded still, but you wanted to hug this guy so tight his eyeballs would pop out of his head.

He had saved your life, and probably your dignity too. It was incredibly courageous for someone to go out of their way to save someone that was being assaulted by alleyway freaks, and you would have understood if everyone chose to ignore the screams coming from a dark alleyway.

"I mean, he's not here right now, because he said that he had to read Papyrus his bedtime story."

She made a face that was hard to make out in the dark, but it looked affectionate. She continued, "But, if you want to meet him sometime, you should try going to Grillby's. He's there for like, practically every meal of the day. Like, everyday." Her face changed from that sweet affection to irritation. "And for brunch and like five snacks everyday."

You giggled, trying to fathom what could make a guy go to a restaurant nine times a day.

"Thanks, Und.. Undyyyy…" you pause uncomfortably.

"Undyne."

"Right! Sorry, Undyne, thank you so much!"

"No problem, lady."

You two sat silent for a good few minutes.

"Hey, Undyne, if you don't mind me asking.. why did you wait here for me to wake up? I mean, I'm guessing you're a police officer, because you were there to investigate the crime and everything, but why wait for me?"

"Well first off, I'm a first-responder kind of gal, so even though I was there first, I was just there to apprehend the bastards. The other officers were part of the investigative division, and _they_ investigated." She paused again. "But I got there, and there was a lot of blood all over you, and.. I guess I sympathized with you a bit, so I wanted to hang around until you woke up. I also wanted to ask some questions about the scene, but only if you're feeling up to it."

"Oh.. okay, well, I feel kind of groggy still, but I'll answer whatever I can." A pit formed in your stomach. You didn't want to talk about what happened, but you also wanted everyone that was responsible for your horrifying experience to be put in prison.

"I'm going to be honest with you. I'm not going to sugar coat anything. It doesn't get anything accomplished. First of all, how did the confrontation start?"

You recalled how the black cat crossed your path, and how it had been raining. "Well, Whitesong and I left Muffet's Bakery, the one just a few blocks away from here. I noticed some guys behind us, muttering to each other, talking in nothing louder than a whisper." You waited to see if Undyne said anything, but she didn't.

"I didn't think much of it until they were still behind us a couple of blocks later. I didn't like the clothes they were wearing, they reminded me of gang members, all clad in leather and spikes and shit.

"I remembered the horror stories of monsters being assaulted, even in the public eye, and I started to… I started to get scared that they'd attack Whitesong. So I told Whitesong to run on ahead, and because she doesn't like the rain, she agreed." You took a deep breath. "Guess I'm lucky it was raining, haa…"

You shuddered, thinking of what would have happened if she caught on to what you were doing, or if it hadn't rained at all.

"When she was out of eyesight, the two guys approached me quickly, put their hands over my eyes and mouth and dragged me into that alley. I… I was r-really scared that they were gonna… gonna…" You could your eyes become glassy, the sure sign that you were going to cry. Your breathing became steady, in an attempt to stifle the tears.

"Hey, you can stop if you want. I know this can't be comfortable to talk about, lady."

"No! I mean, no, it's okay. If talking about it ensures they're going to go to jail for it, I'm glad to do it. I don't want them hurting any more people."

"I'm genuinely impressed with you, human." The unfamiliar nickname startled you, and you fought to contain the jolt that ran through your body. "Most humans.. well, I probably shouldn't say most, but _a lot_ of humans would have kept their friend close to them, just to ensure their own safety.

"You sent her away for her own safety. You're telling me everything that happened, even though I know it's more discomforting for you than you're letting on. The way you're acting, I can tell it's not because you want revenge- you want to protect others from those assholes."

It shocked you how straightforward she was. She really wasn't lying when she said she wasn't going to sugar-coat things, but you hadn't been expecting to be given a real compliment.

"You're pretty damn brave, lady."

"Thanks. I appreciate it," you replied, a little dumbly. Silence rang for a few seconds.

"Alright, so what kinds of things did those guys in the alley say?"

"Well, it was hard to pay attention because I was so scared. But, they said they.. they implied that they knew I was dating a monster, and they said several.. uh, several things that could have been insults, but were, uh, honestly kind of true, heh."

Undyne shook her head.

"But, I heard them say what they were going to do with me. And… when they did, I started struggling harder. I bit down on the dark guy's hand really hard and I screamed. I got hit in the face with a spiky-leather glove. Then they said something along the lines of, 'She wasn't supposed to be this… stubborn.'" You knew you sugar-coated it, but the meaning was practically the same.

You continued, "When they said that, something felt really wrong. I couldn't think of it then, I was already, uh, I was already bleeding a lot. Thinking about it now… I think they've been watching me.

"They said they knew what I had been doing with a monster, they said that I wasn't 'supposed' to act the way I did. I think.. I think they had been planning on attacking me for a while now."

You felt tears roll down your face, and you didn't realize how much you needed to breathe until you gasped for air, sobbing hard.

Undyne placed a hand on your shoulder, patting it in a way you guessed was supposed to be gentle, but ended up being very firm and restrained, as if she didn't want to hurt you. Her face betrayed her emotion: she was fuming. She didn't say anything for a long time.

"Were there only two guys?" she asked, finally breaking the quiet. You nodded. She looked down at the floor, contemplating something. She looked back up at you. "Alright, thank you for your time and honesty. You really are a brave human, lady."

You smiled weakly. "Thanks. Hey, I'm really tired, now, so I'm going to try to sleep. Will you.. will you stay here with me?" It sounded so weak and pathetic through your quiet sobs.

She nodded, then added, "Yeah. I'll stick around until you're better, lady. Get some sleep."


	4. The Boyfriend Bears Bad News

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, let's talk about the boyfriend: he doesn't have any sort of description other than "he's a nurse," and "he has appendages of some sort, since, you know, he holds you at night."  
> So, IF you decided you wanted your boyfriend to be, say, a BEAR monster, then the title of this chapter could hold a double-meaning.  
> It's just funny because that's not the kind of monster I've been envisioning this entire time LOL

**In terms of phone shenanigans:**

**=:3** is a bunny

**:)** is a human, aka, YOU

**B** is a butt. enjoy the butt

These are emoticons that represent who's talking in text messages. I hope it's not confusing, it was the best solution I could think of **:/**

**:/** is a human, aka, ME

* * *

You stayed at the hospital for a week, the first half of it practically being incapacitated, and the other half rehabilitating. The nurses and doctors you had bonded with over the past two years were so kind to you, it almost broke your heart. You figured it _would_ break your heart, but you were healing. Things were getting better. You learned that the head doctor of the monster division, Doctor Alphys, was actually Undyne's wife. You talked with both of them for a while when Doctor Alphys was eating her lunch one day, and you could see why they were together.

They were astonishingly different. Doctor Alphys was always soft-spoken and kind: she just wanted to help and please everybody. Undyne, on the other hand, was boisterous and strong. She wanted to protect the innocent, which was why she is an officer of the law. The two together made you smile.

Any time Dr. Alphys would run on a tangent, Undyne would be rapt with attention, eagerly listening and providing input whenever prompted. You noticed how differently Undyne behaved when she was around Dr. Alphys as opposed to you: Undyne's voice would bellow with excitement, talking more at ease and without inhibition, as if some bureaucracy had been keeping her restrained before.

In addition to being more verbal, Undyne also spoke with her body when she was around Alphys: swinging her arms around in grand gestures, kissing Alphys on the forehead every once in awhile to express her affection to the dinosaur monster.

On top of that, you often saw the scales on Dr. Alphys change from yellow to red, and every surrounding scale on her face a gradient of red or orange.

You decided that these two were your favorite couple ever. Well, after yourself and your boyfriend, that is.

Throughout your rehabilitation, your adorable monster boyfriend visited you several times, staying briefly and then returning to work. He was another nurse and he could never stay to chat long. During these short detours from his work, you had promised him Netflix and cuddles whenever you got better. For some reason, though, he seemed nervous around you- and it wasn't the flirting.

This was your last day in the hospital.

As you were pacing around your small hospital room (to which the doctors clearly advised against, but you did it anyway), he came in.

"Hi baby!" You said sunnily. It was a nice surprise to see him pop in, especially with how busy it's been for the last two days. "How's your day been?"

He was quiet, and didn't reply. You tried again.

"Sweety? Are you okay? What happened?"

His fists balled up and started shaking. "Two asshats attacked you."

_Oh_.

"H-honey, I'm fine! See, I'm all better now- the doctors took out the stitches, and the scars really aren't that bad!" Well, that was a lie; they were pretty bad. They weren't painful anymore, but aesthetically, they were very present, and were not going to be easily covered up by any amount of makeup.

"And those guys are in police custody, so it's going to be okay! You'll see. And don't forget what I told you the other day about when we get home." You gave him a seductive look, confident stance and a smug smile. He glanced downwards, avoiding your gaze.

"I'm breaking up with you."

…

…

_WHAT?!_

"B-baby, I don't… I don't understand, what's happening?! What's gotten into you?"

"It's because of me that you got attacked. Those guys saw you with me, and they hurt you because of it." The realization dawned on you. He was leaving you to protect you, the asshole! And, well, maybe to protect himself, but he's actually blaming himself for what happened.

"H-hey! Sweety, _you're_ not the one who attacked me, it was _those_ guys! And last time I checked, I consented to what we did together. On top of that, I've _enjoyed_ being with you more than I've been _scared_ of those alleyway freaks. You're the sweetest thing, and couldn't hurt a fly even if he deserved it. You absolutely wouldn't. I… I… I don't want you to _leave…_ " Tears started welling in your eyes.

You hated to admit it, but you desperately relied on his body to keep you warm every night. The closeness kept you relatively sane, and the comfort and contentedness it brought you was phenomenal.

He was the only guy who made you feel this way.

It wasn't fair.

"I'm sorry. I.. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if you were hurt again by some awful humans for being with a monster like me. I'm sorry… I'm just not strong enough…" He looked scared to death, and tears fell from his face to the floor. "I'm sorry…"

In the morning, the doctors told you to go home and have the next week off. Undyne escorted you home, riding in your car while another officer tailed you. When you finally arrived home, Undyne gave you her number in case there were any complications or if anything suspicious was going on. You promised her she would be the first person you called, to which she beamed a toothy smile.

Looking inside the house, you immediately noticed several pieces of furniture missing: the small lamp from the table beside the comforters in the living room, the chairs and table from the dining room, and you figured the rest of your boyfriend's- no, your ex-boyfriend's belongings were absent as well. Your mood plummeted.

Trying to put up a happy facade despite your sudden change in mood, you thanked Undyne for staying with you to make you feel safe and told her to have a nice day.

"Alright lady, get some rest!" she had said. You said you certainly would.

Undyne turned to leave, and you stole a final glance at her. She was in uniform, and damn if she didn't look good. You'd be jealous of Alphys if you were at all lesbian.

Well, maybe you were a bit.

But mostly, it just made you happy that Alphys was so into her. "Those two must really love each other. To stick by each other through everything… even human bullshit."

You were very upset over your boyfriend ditching you. You were sad, distraught at first, but now you were sour, bitter, and salty all at the same time over it. "God, what an asshole! I can't believe he can just cut everything off, like it never happened. The damage is done, we could've made it through and pushed onward. But… GAAGH! I have to do something!"

You stormed to your kitchen to find there were no dishes to do. You were surprised at first, but then you realized you'd given your house keys to Whitesong so she could make sure nothing in your apartment was tampered with. You were really paranoid now that someone could be watching you, and Whitesong understood perfectly. She promised she'd be careful, and pinky promised she would not take any alleyways.

Apparently, she also did your dishes, scrubbed the ever-living hell out of your kitchen, swept and mopped the floors, and even left behind a note on the fridge.

_Consider all the clean shit as thanks for, you know, saving my life, Joy._

_I know that you ended up being fine because someone saved you,_

_but a monster like me… if they hit me, I probably would've_

_turned to dust in an instant. They sounded like they had high levels of violence._

_I didn't want to worry you while we were at the hospital about this,_

_and I wanted to do my best to cheer you up, so I didn't mention anything._

_Next time though… at least tell me there's a problem._

_Seriously._

_If there's someone planning on attacking me, you, or whoever, we can be_

_more prepared than we were last time._

_I might not be able to fight back, but you know how fast I can run:_

_I could call for help a lot faster, and we can avoid this mess next time._

_I also got you some pepper spray- apparently, it's really good at_

_stopping those fuckers right in their tracks._

_So next time, you have to tell me what's up._

_Agreed? 3_

_Love,_

_~Whitesong_

_(I mean, who else is going_

_to leave a note on the fridge door in_

_your house, I mean seriously)_

You smiled at the note, and saw what looked like a pink flashlight on the counter. Oh, that must be the pepper spray. You smiled even wider knowing that Whitesong had your back. Where would you even be right now without her wise (and simultaneously kickass) guidance?

You pulled out your phone from your pocket and texted her.

**:)** Heya, Lopunny! I saw the note on the fridge. I also saw you cleaned literally everything and I'm so going to get my payback.

Not twenty seconds later, she replied,

**=:3** pls dun cal me lopuny

To which you replied,

**:)** Not a chance in hell, bunny britches. In all casualness, though, do you want to do something later? I've literally got nothing better to do right now.

**=:3** actually i work nite shift tonite. ugh wish u were here to suffer w/ meeeeee

**:)** That's okay, I understand. See ya some other time, call me okay? I'm literally doing nothing for the next week, chica.

**=:3** nurs joy u gotta stop using proper gramer wen u txt it weirds evry1 out i swer

**:)** Hmm, nope, I think I like my commas and apostrophes too much to let them go =;3 C U L8R LOPUNNY =:3 =:3 =:3

**=:3** on 2nd thought, pls use proper grammar. g nite.

**:)** It's 9:00 in the morning, but that's fine. Night, chica!

You knew she was probably about to go to sleep so that she'd be fully awake when her shift started. A frown appeared when you realized that you had nothing to do and no one to do it with now that your boyfriend had walked out on you and your bestie was going to be working.

You had other friends, but most of them were in your hometown, and you came here two years ago when the barrier trapping the monsters fell.

You came here to be a nurse at the first established monster hospital, at the glowing recommendation of your superiors. It made you happy and sad at the same time to leave and do something you felt was important. It felt like you were helping the world by being a nurse, but you still missed everyone back home.

You wracked your brain for something to do when you suddenly remembered. "Oh yeah! That's right, Whitesong said I should try.. Grillby's…" It dawned on you that Grillby's lingered only blocks away from where you had been assaulted. Your brows furrowed and you contemplated whether or not you wanted to take the risk, and then you realized, "Oh shit! Undyne said that S… Sans? She said he'd be there!" Your mind was set.

It was time to go thank the guy who saved your life.


	5. The Guy Who Saved You

_Phone, keys, pepper spray, wallet… yup, that's everything._

You took your car, not only because you no longer felt safe walking, but also because the hospital and the plaza were literally on the other side of the suburbs, easily a twenty-minute drive. It began to rain lightly.

Even while keeping focused on the road and where you were going, it still took you thirty minutes to get to there, an added ten just to find where exactly it was. It was actually rather small, a two-story building just off the main plaza, but it was unmistakable with a neon "Grillby's" and a cocktail to label it. You smiled. It was too early to drink, and you had never been a huge fan of alcohol anyway. But you still enjoyed a nice conversation with patrons at other bars on slightly rainy days.

You sighed. This was it. You took in a deep breath to collect yourself. What were you going to say? 'Yo, thanks for saving my life dawg, I super appreciate it. Now I'll just be getting back to doing my thing, yo.'

That was the most awful idea ever. You planned on revising it before saying anything at all. It occurred to you that you didn't even know what Sans looked like. You had no inclination to even think about that factor before. "I'm looking for a guy and I don't even know what he looks like. Shit, I should've asked Undyne when.. oh, well, whatever!"

You briskly walk through the door, and find yourself inside a cozy brown bar. To your right are some booths, to your left, some round tables and… a lot of dog monsters. They turned their heads curiously to you, one of them panting with their tongue out.

One exasperatedly says, "Heya, why'd you all go all quiet all of a sudden? Did someone walk in the door? I can't see you guys, help me out here!" An actual dog beside him barked in what you can only assume is an affirmation to his question that, yes, someone had walked through the door. You smiled. Is that a seeing-eye dog?

You didn't think anything could be more adorable. The shifty-eyed blind dog patted the seeing-eye dog on the head. "Who says dogs can't pet other dogs?"

A couple of cloaked dog monsters reply, "That's what we've been trying to tell you for the past three years!" and "(I can't believe you Doggo)".

You smile their way, and the biggest dog yips in the tiniest way possible.

You were wrong. That was easily more adorable than the dog petting a dog.

At the booths were a couple of monsters. One with really large teeth, eating a burger as though that burger were its lifeline, and another who looked kind of like a fish, with a big tail instead of two legs. It also seemed to have very chapped lips, which makes sense, because it was definitely _a fish out of water_. You almost snorted at your terrible joke, but contained it knowing it'd be rude to laugh at someone you simply shared a glance with.

Across the bar, a flaming man in a _hot_ uniform was wiping the inside of a glass with a rag, whilst listening to a single bird-like patron across the bar table. You saw that most of the seats were filled up, so you sat at the bar on the furthest seat to the right. _Wow, any one of these guys could be Sans_ , you thought.

"Grillbz says hello, friend!" The bird monster said, voice faltering when he said friend, but you dismissed it. You realized you were the only human in the bar. It must have been kind of awkward for the bird monster, but for you, well, you had been alone in a room with families of monsters countless of times, seeing as how your job included nursing monsters. The corners of your mouth rose, a smile forming on your face.

"Hello, friends! If it's not too much to ask, can I get a beverage, sir? Anything non-alcoholic would be splendid." Grillby nodded and went through the door behind the bar table.

"Can I ask your name?" the bird monster inquired. You nodded, then realized that when somebody asks for your name, you usually give them a response. You hated when you did silly things like that.

"Oh, uh, you can call me Joy," you offered. You hadn't exactly lied, but you didn't want anyone finding out it was you that was in the news when those two guys in the alley- well, yeah. It was better if the news died down before you started giving out your real name.

"Well, Joy, it's a pleasure to meet you! I'm Birdnard! And, well, you've probably figured it out by now, but the monster on fire is Grillby!

"The dog with the seeing-eye dog is Doggo, the two in the cloaks are Dogamy and Dogaressa, then there's Greater Dog, the big fella there, see, and then over there is Clamper, the guy with the big teeth, yeah, and then the fish guy there's Salmond."

The respective patrons waved at you, or at least the ones with hands or flippers did. Clamper unhinged his jaw and grunted, 'sup!' No Sans, then.

You smiled and waved back. Monsters tended to just be the most friendly and outgoing people, and everybody was just so close to each other. Everybody was everybody's pal, and you've rarely seen monsters get mad at each other. Their love for one another can be overwhelming sometimes, but you'd gotten used to giving and receiving it too over the last two years.

"Sometimes, you'll find Jacky over there by the jukebox. He's gone for the month, though. He's a donkey type of monster, so he's really strong. He's helping monsters move their belongings to the surface, and he's perfect for the job. Pretty cool guy.

"Lesser Dog comes here a lot, but he's taking care of Endogeny right now. One relative is always there to keep an eye on them, so you won't see all the dog monster regulars here at once. Sometimes, you'll see a yellow bunny that's so drunk that you'd think she'd keel over-"

"Oh, you mean Whitesong!"

"Actually, yeah, you know her?"

Grillby came back with your beverage, a piping hot cup of cocoa, perfect for warming up from the chilly rain. Some pretty snowy months were just ahead, that much you knew.

"Thank you Grillby. Uh, but anyway Birdnard, yeah! I know Whitesong: she and I are pals! We work at the hospital together as nurses. She's been _begging_ me to come with her here for a long time, and I finally got around to it. I'll tell you what, that job keeps us both so busy it's hard to plan to do anything at the same time! Finally, I had to give in and just come here without her. But it's not all bad- at least I won't be dragging her out of here by her drunken ears!" Birdnard tweeted a giggle and Grillby crackled with laughter.

"Oh, you must have been the one she's talked about, then! The kind human who nurses monsters to health, and treats everyone with dignity and respect. We've heard quite a bit about you!" Birdnard chirped. Your smile sank slightly. If she's mentioned you, then they might know your name. It's not a big deal, but you felt bad that you hadn't been totally honest about it. "Oh, and who could forget! There's one more regular that comes here everyday without fail! In fact, you'll probably see him before you leave, being brunch and all. His name's Sans, and, oh man, that guy." He contorted his beak into what you could only assume was a grin. "That guy is the _best_! Sure, he makes these awful puns constantly, but he's a funny guy." Funny guy? The guy that saved you in an alleyway full of vicious humans was a… funny guy? Even after meeting so many monsters, they never cease to surprise you. "He comes in several times a day, usually. On break from his three jobs."

"Three jobs?!" You ask, shocked. "Aren't there labor laws put in place for monsters in order to monetarily compensate them if they have two jobs or something along those lines?"

"Well, yeah, but Sans has got two normal jobs, working at two different hot dog stands, and then he works with former-queen Toriel and King Asgore."

The guy who saved you works at not one, but two hot dog stands. And under King Asgore. You're baffled, but you couldn't place which one was more surprising to you.

You heard the door to Grillby's open, and before you could even turn around to see who it was, you heard the dogs shout, 'Hi Sans', 'Hiya Sanster', and other greetings. It was definitely Sans alright. You felt yourself become increasingly nervous, and couldn't force yourself to turn around. Instead, you watched from the corner of your eye at Birdnard.

"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear," you quipped, voice wavering. Birdnard and Grillby gave you a look (or at least, Grillby was in the posture to be giving you a look). You corrected yourself, "Sorry, sorry, it's a human phrase. It just means that if you talk about someone, they'll suddenly show up." That seemed to placate the two men.

"Talking about me, I see?"

You jumped, having been caught red-handed. You finally turn around to get a glimpse at Sans. You expected another animal-like creature, because that's what most monsters seemed to resemble. But, you had found yourself face-to-skull with a skeleton monster. It was kind of funny how everything started, and devolved into what it was.

He had a smile on his face, but you wondered if it was because he was happy or because he was a skeleton. He answered your question by giving you a concentrated look, smile turning into a brief frown. "Have I seen you before somewhere?" He kept his browbone cocked and smiled again, although this time it was kind of a goofy smile. "Huh? Wait a minute.. those cuts on your face…"

"Y-yeah, I was that person," you stated hurriedly, trying to keep the assault a secret. "Undyne said I could find you here."

Sans gave you a quizzical look.

"Why'd you want to find me?"

Your face turned red, realizing how awkward it was to go to a random person's favorite restaurant, expecting them to be there, just to say thanks for something they did. It was kind of stalkerish.

"W-well, I just, umm, wanted to say thanks. Uhh, thanks, for, uhh, you know. The help. And stuff." You know your face turned even redder, but you tried to play it cool.

You failed miserably.

Sans gave you a long look, one of sympathy and… amusement? Oh god, was he _enjoying_ watching you suffer?!

"Welp. You're welcome. Who _nose_ what would have happened if I happened to not be there."

You reflexively put your hands over your nose, feeling all too self-aware of the new scars directly on the bridge.

"That's. Not. Funny," you squeaked, turning away.

"And the only reason I was there to help was because I could _sniff_ out trouble from a mile away." His face gave way to an even bigger smile than he had before. Annoyed, you huffed.

"Big talk for somebody who doesn't have a functioning nose," you retorted. Grillby and Birdnard stared at each other, then back to you. Sans sat down at the stool next to you, ignoring your comment.

"Well, seems you've taken over my preferred spot, so I guess I'll just sit here." He took the seat right next to you. "Have you ordered yet, kid?"

_Kid?_ He had no idea how old you even were! Instead of acknowledging it, though, you simply said: "I ordered a drink, but nothing to eat yet. Anything in particular good?"

"Hmm, I always just get myself Grillby's world-famous burg."

"Burg? Like a burger?"

"Somethin' like that."

"Well, I guess that sounds pretty good right now. Heya Grillby, I'll take a, uh, burg."

Grillby stood silent, turning to face Sans. A moment of silence ensued between them. "Usual?" Grillby mumbled, flames glowing a bright yellow at what you could only assume was his mouth.

Monsters had you assuming things way too much, you realized.

"Usual," Sans confirmed, smiling and leaning into the bar. Grillby strode once more into the kitchen. Sans eyed you from his position. "So, how you holding up? I see they got your face healed up pretty nicely. And, uh, I see you're not dead, so that's pretty good."

"Well, I'm doing better now. At first, I was really worried that those guys… I was worried about Whitesong. Undyne told me she was perfectly fine though, and hadn't been bothered by anybody. I got to talk to Whitesong a day or two later. I was so relieved." You took a sip of your cocoa. Still hot, but it was now bearable. Sans seemed to straighten up at hearing the name.

"Yeah, she was pretty worried about you when it happened. I don't think I've ever heard her that distressed before," he said, quiet enough so that Birdnard couldn't hear. Birdnard seemed to get the message and walked to the booth with Clamper and Salmond.

"Wait, you talked to her that day?" she hadn't told you anything about Sans yet.

"Yep. She said something about going back to find you after she ran ahead because she was wanting to tell you something, but you disappeared. She ran past some buildings and heard some guys talking in hushed voices closeby. She recognized what was happening pretty quickly, and called me."

"Wait, wait, she called you before she called the police?"

"I don't really know if she called them first or not, but I was here at Grillby's when it happened so I was much closer than the police were, so maybe she did."

"Huh… well, from what I heard, you shook those guys up pretty good, so I guess…" you stopped mid-sentence, noticing the potential of a pun. "...that it was the right _call_."

Sans looked at you in confusion for a split-second before realizing you made a lame-ass pun. He laughed anyway, smile growing wide. "Yeah, I'd say it was the right decision. In fact, it was pretty _phone-_ tastic." His grin grew impossibly wide as he tried to contain his laughter. You couldn't stop yourself though: you were laughing like a hyena.

The bar-goers looked at you curiously, but you didn't care to notice.

Finally reigning in your giggles, you respond, "In all seriousness, though, Sans…" you looked away, acting sad. You couldn't hold back your smile, but you were turned away so he wouldn't be able to see. "If it hadn't been for you… I'm… I'm certain that I would have… that I would have _die-_ aled."

Without skipping a beat, you both burst into laughter, and a tear streamed down your face from the pain caused by your new scars. Laughing really did hurt, but it was so worth it. It was worth feeling good again, after the incident; after the breakup.

Grillby returned with piping-hot burgs and a golden smile, as well as a bottle of ketchup. The food permeated a delicious smell, one you couldn't quite put your finger on. He placed the burgs in front of you and Sans, and left the ketchup to Sans, who thanked Grillby. Grillby said something to him, but you failed to catch whatever it was.

"Really, Grillby? I thought you were a bartender, not an eavesdropper."

Grillby responded with a single word, but again, you couldn't hear it. His flames crackled and pink and purple flames bounced off of him for a second before evaporating. Sans shook his head. Sans took a swig of ketchup.

"See, you're doing it again, Grillby. You really ought to be _fired_." You sniggered at the obvious fire pun. Poor Grillby: he probably has to deal with this everyday. "Oh wait, you already are," he finished. You almost started laughing for the umpteenth time in a row, but you put your hands over your mouth. Only giggles escaped your fingers this time.

You sat and talked with Sans while you ate, joking and laughing all the while. You felt like you could get used to this, and promised yourself you'd return sometime, preferably when Sans was there. Time passed by like a roller coaster.

That is to say, it happened so fast and was so enjoyable; and then suddenly, it slowed down and was over.

"Well, as much as I'd love to hang out with my new pal, I've _goat_ to get going. I've gotta talk to the king. It's some pretty important stuff. Grillby, mind adding that to my tab?"

Your heart dropped. _Wait… a tab? Is he really that low on money that he has to keep a tab?_

"Hold on- I'll pay for it. Consider it thanks for helping me out." Sans turned to you, wide-eyed, then hurriedly corrected himself.

"Heh, that's ok pal, it's all fine and good."

You paused, pretending to consider believing him. "Well, alright, if you say so. Have fun talking to King Asgore, Sans."

He looked back at you, placated. "See ya." Sans sauntered out the door, and you motioned for Grillby to stop before he added the cost of the meal to Sans' tab. He tilted his head at you.

"I wasn't kidding when I said I was going to pay for his meal." Grillby shook his head. "No, it's perfectly fine! Besides, when I see him next, I can tell him that I wouldn't have _paid_ for the burg if he had _paid_ attention." Grillby smiled and nodded, motioning Birdnard to come over to put the money for your two meals in his fire-proof box. "Wow, must be hard running a business on the surface when you're on fire. Your profits could burst into flames in an instant." Grillby nodded once more, looking sort of exasperated.

"Grillbz says it's all good, Joy," Birdnard chirped. You don't think that's what Grillby would have said, given his demeanor.

You grinned anyway, and told the two monsters you'd definitely come back sometime.

Grillby whispered to Birdnard, "I would be more surprised if she didn't, with how she and Sans were talking."

You overheard the laughter behind you, and your face turned pink. You knew they were talking about you and Sans.

How could you blame them though? You and Sans were easily the loudest ones in Grillby's, and were totally oblivious to everyone else. You admitted to yourself that you kind of liked him.

It was settled. You definitely had to see the guy who saved you again.


	6. Home Is Where The Stalkers Are

You turned the corner, laughing with Whitesong. It was the perfect day: birds were singing, flowers were blooming, and you two were enjoying your nice creams. Nice creams were _perfect_ this time of year: it was spring, and even though the weather couldn't decide whether it wanted to be hot or cold, people had missed the frozen treat after the long and arduous winter.

The two of you laughed at nothing, and talked about everything. You still hadn't told her that your boyfriend- augh, your ex-boyfriend, it was so annoying to have to remember to call him your _ex_ \- had cut all ties. But she was talking about one of the human doctors she had a conversation with the other day.

"Oh, he's just _so dreamy_!"

"Whitesong, only women from the eighties call people _dreamy_ ," you teased, smiling at a couple holding hands across the street. You looked at a STOP sign, but for some reason, it was labeled 'TOPS'.

You pointed this out to Whitesong, but she just gave you a funny look. "What stop sign?"

"The one right-" _Oh_. The stop sign was gone? "It's not there anymore?" You turn to face Whitesong, but she's gone. "Whitesong?! Chica, where'd you go?!" A terrible feeling sank into your chest. "Where did everyone go?" The streets were empty, and the sky was overcast with dark clouds. Rain began to pour onto the empty town.

You started running, trying to get out of the rain, trying to find some evidence that the world was still there. Everything began melting, turning into a strange white substance. You panicked while the remainder of the world turned black. Behind you, you heard footsteps.

"Guess this is what you get for being a dirty monster fucker, huh sugar?" the voice was colder than the rain, blacker than the imminent darkness. A hand wrapped around you, pulling you backwards.

Tears began streaming down your face, because you knew what was about to happen. You turned to face him. He was pale and heavy, his face outlined by the surrounding darkness, punctuated by a sneer. You called for help…

But nobody came.

You watched in horror as blood began trickling down your chest, highlighted by a long, silver knife.

* * *

You awoke, screaming, your face soaked with sweat. You were alone in your room, and snow was falling outside. The world was dark, but street lights give off an eerie yellow glow to the falling snow and dark figures. It's calm and quiet. You looked at your clock: 3:16 AM. It was far too early to be doing anything, but you knew you were not going back to sleep after that nightmare.

Wiping tears off of your cheeks and from your eyes, you stood up. You descended the stairs in your home, shaking from the sudden cold. The thermostat was turned off. Shivering, you turned it to 74 degrees. You made sure to keep all the lights off as you travelled through the house. _Who knows who could be watching?_ You considered shooting a text Whitesong's way, or even texting Undyne, but they could easily be asleep right now, and you didn't want to wake anybody.

You wish you had asked for San's phone number.

It had been several days since you had gone to Grillby's and met Sans. In the meantime, you had been debating when it would be appropriate to go again. You wanted to have a great time, rather than be stuck in the house of your failed relationship with a certain asshole nurse, all with the possibility of being watched by some creepy monster-hating stalker.

Constantly going from moping around with your boyfriend being gone to being furious and shouting at nobody in particular exhausted you. You found yourself crying too much, reiterating how unfair it all was:

One day, you're being all cuddly and cute and shit with each other, the next day you're attacked for being all cuddly with a monster and then said monster breaks up with you ALL WITHIN THE SPAN OF A WEEK AND

YOu just

can't.

It sucks because you thought he really cared about you. You thought he was going to be there to protect you when you needed protecting. You never thought he'd pack up his bags and leave at the first sign of trouble. He told you he cared about you, and you believed it. He didn't wait to listen to you, to listen to reason.

He didn't have enough faith in you to believe that everything was going to be alright, that the two of you could make it through everything if you just had a little bit of faith in each other.

You understood him being scared for himself. Monsters are fragile. He sees injured monsters everyday, some of which are harmed by selfish humans. You know he's scared as hell. But he should have realized at some point that you were scared too; you were frightened that someone could break into your house at night and kill you in your sleep. You tended to be a heavy sleeper, so it could happen- but if he were here, you two could at least sleep in peace.

Now, both of you were vulnerable, and worse, you were alone. If there was still a threat, it wouldn't have disappeared with your relationship: humans have a terrible habit of settling imaginary vendettas, and somebody clearly had a problem with the two of you. Whether or not the relationship existed anymore didn't matter: simply the fact that it had is enough to make you feel afraid.

And you were so, so afraid.

Nightmares had plagued you for the last few nights. It did not happen the first time you woke up, with Undyne next to you, nor the next few nights when she stood vigilant in your room. The first night you slept alone marked the first nightmare you've had in a year.

You relived the scene: you were grabbed, insulted, and beaten. You screamed...

But nobody came.

The horrible dream pressed on: the men abused and raped you, and slit your throat with a knife. Seeing your own blood rushing out of your body: smelling the iron, feeling your life fade away, and hearing them laughing maniacally, your dream ended.

When you had gone to Grillby's on your first day back and talked to Sans… you felt like you were safe there. The monsters were so calm and casual. Sans was a breath of fresh air (even though his breath smelled like ketchup). He was so charismatic, and he seemed genuinely worried about you when he recognized you. Even after all of that, though, you couldn't sleep soundly. You were mortified that someone would enter your home and murder you. It was a constant thought.

You so desperately hoped it wasn't too soon to go back to Grillby's to talk to Sans again, because you resolved that you'd go in a couple of hours, at brunch-time.

Continuing through the house, quietly, and without bothering with the lights, you turned on the water to the tub. _Maybe a bubble bath will get rid of my uneasiness._

While the water warmed up, you lit two candles: you could see okay in the dark just from the light of the window showing through from behind a curtain, but you wanted something to enchant the space. You loved watching the light flicker off of everything: entrancing, enchanting, invigorating.

You allowed the water to fill up around you while you poured in a small amount of bubble batter into the water. Slowly, the bubbles rose around you, encasing you in a fresh, light-hearted bliss. The warmth of the water on your body… it wasn't the same as being held close by your boyfriend at night, but it was still relaxing, all the same.

With nothing to do, your mind wandered. You refused to think of the possibility that someone could be watching you, or that somebody wanted to harm you. Instead, you thought about Sans for the millionth time that week. You placed your hands on your chest, covering your sternum. "I wonder if his skeletal structure is the same as a human's," you whispered to nobody.

You pressed lightly onto your own flesh, trying to get a sense as to the dimensions of the bones on your body...

You remember the schooling necessary to become a nurse. It was a fantastic experience- definitely better than high school- training with some of the people you'd known since you were a child. You all grew up together, and wanted to help others, and when you graduated, it was perhaps the happiest you've ever been.

One of the best memories from college was a particularly jovial study session about skeletal anatomy. You and your friends were trying to actually learn the names of every single bone in the human body before the teacher assigned the section.

Your friend would point to a bone, and you would say, "femur." They'd point to another: "fibula." And another: "tibia." Your friend gave you the chart, so they could practice some. Before they had a chance, though, you uttered, "This is going _tibia_ great learning sesh, and that's no _fibula_."

"Are you really going to subject me to these awful puns?" your friend groaned.

"Oh, yes, absolutely: in fact, I have a _femur_ up my sleeve."

The rest of the study session followed the example of the first few minutes, and you could not have been more joyful. If you didn't know the name of the bone, you thought of something to remember it by, whether it be puns or simply making fun of the names.

"Haha, Riley, I'm gonna suck your _cochlea_ so hard."

"That is physically impossible and you know it," Riley said, frantically trying not to blush. "I can't believe you said that. It's not even an actual bone, you clod!"

"I can believe it. And you know what I meant," you retorted, winking in the most obnoxious way you knew how.

You grasped your fingers individually, rubbing into the knuckles in little circles. You were trying to remember if he had five fingers on each hand, or if he had an inhuman number of fingers. You recalled him taking sips from his ketchup, which was, in your opinion, still incredibly weird. It was the only time his hands were really visible, but the specificity eluded your memory.

Sighing at the futility of trying to remember it, you moved your hands down to your knees. "Patella, otherwise known as the kneecap," you whispered once again. "Tibia, and the little fibula hiding right behind it." You gripped your calves as you said the names of the bones within. "The distal, middle, and proximal phalanges," you said, slightly louder this time, a weak smile manifesting upon your face. Your hands moved to accommodate the bones of your toes. _This really is relaxing._

You continued until you named every bone in your body (or at least, each one that had a specific name to it: you left out multiples so you wouldn't say phalanges sixty times). By the end, you were stupidly giggly, and you weren't really sure why.

Maybe it was because you were relieved: I mean, it'd be weird if someone were watching you, but what were the chances that someone really _was_ watching you in your own home? Nothing had happened to you so far since you've been home; nobody clonked you on the head when you got into your car when going to Grillby's. Nobody bashed in your brains when you came home.

You sat, contented and smiling, and began to sing a funny song you heard on youtube once. "woof WOOF woof woof WOOF-woof, woof-woof-woof, WOOF, WOOF woof-woof-woof!" You giggled at the absurdity that was that song. Gazing at the flames, and then the walls, you could see shimmers of light dance in tune to the woofs. It filled you with… contentedness.

The light played with your surroundings in funny ways: it shone on the mirror, making it seem golden from your angle; it put funny patterns into the floor beyond the door, something reminiscent of walking, and in the ceiling, you could see different shades of yellow, orange, and amber expand and retract in rhythm to your dogsong.

Finally, you decided it was time to get out of the tub. You continued singing while you let the water drain noisily beneath you, and you wrapped a towel around yourself, lazily leaving your hair to fall and dry on its own. You went from singing to humming, now that the sloshes of water could no longer drown out your horrendous woofing. You blew out one of the candles.

_Hmm?_ You thought, bringing the hums to a stop. _That's strange… I'm pretty sure I didn't turn on any lights outside of the bathroom. Why can I still see light under the door then?_

Suddenly, you knew why.

They were there.

Inside your house.

Waiting for you to come out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooohh! SUSPENSE! CLIFF HANGER?! HOW COULD IIIIIIIII?!  
> What if I just ended this series in the next chapter by killing off the protagonist and not include any of the smut that I kind of promised?


	7. Knock-Knock

You felt as though you were paralyzed. You stood in shocked silence as you listened intently for a moment-

_Breathing. I definitely hear breathing right outside the door._ _Shit, shit, SHIT, what am I supposed to do?!_

Your mind searched frantically trying to find something, anything you could do. You remembered plugging in your phone to its charger yesterday before going to bed… _Wait!_

_It's in my pocket!_ Walking back over to your dirty pants, you foraged for your phone. _There, I've got it!_

You wince when you realize the phone is going to make unnecessary amounts of noise, which will alert whoever is outside your door.

Thinking that's the last thing you want to do right now, you try humming the dogsong again, but it's definitely not loud enough to conceal beeps to anyone who might be listening for it. You needed something obnoxiously loud, something that would cover up every sound you make…

_The hair dryer,_ you realize. _That old hair dryer could drown out a motorcycle._ You smile nervously: your situation was getting better. Still humming the dogsong, you pull the hair dryer from a drawer and plug it in. You turn it on: it's louder than you remember. You see the shadows of feet shift outside of your door.

You hurriedly get the little phone out, and quickly turn it on silent. You text Undyne first:

**:)** undn i nied hwlp

You send it as quickly as you can, not caring about spelling. You shoot her another text:

**:)** pls cpme 2 hous

You get no reply for the next minute. _Shit, he's going to start suspecting something if I don't hurry._ Thinking of no other solution, you text Whitesong:

**:)** call polic

It was desperate. The police were several miles away, though, and would take too long to get here. But depending on how you play your cards… you might be able to stall for long enough for it to happen.

Whitesong and Undyne were the only people who could possibly help: calling the police yourself could alert whoever is on the other side of the door, and the police would not be able to hear you anyway with the hair dryer.

You wonder how long you could milk this cow: will they figure out what you're doing? _I can't stay in here much longer. They'll figure something is up and break the door down, or start shooting through the door._ You looked around, tentatively. _Is there anything I could use as a weapon? Maybe I could get the first hit in if I'm quick enough, and that might just be what I need._

You look for one such object, but the only two ideas that come to mind are the hair dryer and the plunger. Neither would do anything more than stun them. _If I had more time, I could unscrew the lid from the toilet. And I could throw it at him._ You knew that it would not work and was completely impractical. You started putting your clothes on. _If they barge down the door, then I need_ some _sort of protection!_ You put on the dirty leggings, socks and dress-sweater you took off before showering, as you realized you forgot to take a change of clothes with you. You kept the towel, wrapping it around yourself. _Extra protection._

Sighing, you thought of anything else you could do. You figured you had only the two options: fight or defend. Diplomacy crossed your mind, but you didn't think it'd get you anywhere. They _came_ into your house with the intention of harming you. Nothing was going to stop them from doing that. You also thought about running, but… _wait… I_ could _run._ Your attention is brought to the window, that is now seeping with a faraway, white reflection.

You stand onto your tiptoes, but you can barely get your nose onto the windowsill. The window is rather horizontal: you could fit through, but not only would it take a significant amount of maneuvering to get through it, you'd need something to stand on.

You glanced around the bathroom once more. You opened your bathroom mini-closet and removed every towel and cloth Whitesong washed when she had cleaned your entire house. You were more grateful than ever for her.

The window began banging, causing you to jump, gasping at the sound. There was a flurry of snow crashing into your window, caking it entirely in cold powder. _So much for subtlety._ The moment you open your window, the wind is going to shriek, and it will only be a matter of seconds before whoever's outside the door reacts to it. You heard something outside your door shift, and you froze.

_Knock knock._

You pretend not to hear it.

_KNOCK._

_KNOCK._

You didn't know if your heart froze, or was beating so rapidly that everything became numb to you. "Who's there?"

You heard laughter outside the door. It was smooth, like an all-too-knowing giggle.

It was a woman outside your door.

"Kill," she whispered, coldly.

"K-kill who?" you stuttered. You stack the towels, deciding the washcloths weren't going to help any.

"Kill _you_ ," she bellowed. "Unless..." You froze. "... you open your door."

You contemplated your options. You could jump out the window, but there was yet another problem you hadn't wanted to worry about: the ground is an entire story below you, if not a slight-bit more.

While you are, indeed, on the first floor, the back of your house has a much-lower ground level, so your basement looks like any other floor of your house, if you look from the back.

You took a deep breath. _This is it._ The life-changing traumatic experience before you seemed so overwhelmingly large and insurmountable, and everything felt like it was hanging on a wire.

Or you could open the door and take your chances with her. Would you smack her with a plunger or try that aforementioned 'diplomacy' option? You really didn't think she'd show any mercy.

There is snow on the ground outside. It might cushion your fall a bit. But, then again, it might not.

_KNOCK._

_KNOCK._

_KNOCK._

"C'mon, sweetie, I just wanna talk. But if you don't open this door in the next minute, I'm going to have to take drastic measures. I promise things will be much easier if you just open the door." She almost sounded pleading. She almost sounded sincere.

Something about her threw you off. She wasn't a normal stalker (but then again, are there _any_ normal stalkers? You decide to think about it when your life is not in peril). She wasn't forceful. _Does she really just want to talk? She could have easily shot the door down at any point, unless she's not holding a gun. If she isn't holding a gun, then I should be safe in here, unless she starts banging the door down._

You climb in the tub just in case you're wrong, and curl up so the top of the tub is above you.

"Alright, sweety. That was your last chance. Time to do this the hard way."

Suddenly, you hear a deafening crack. _Not a gunshot. That's not a gunshot, so what the_ _ **hell**_ _could that possibly be?!_

You peek over the tub to find an axe split between the door. The door obviously was _not_ going to keep anybody out.

You decide you really have to go for it.

You have to jump now.

_C'mon. C'mon, you can do this,_ you told yourself. Adrenaline pumped through your veins and your confidence rose. A new vigor awakened within your bones, the will to live driving you forward. You jumped out of the tub as you hear another loud _crack!_ You swung the window open, cold air blasting through the once warm space.

_Crack!_ "What the _hell_ do you think you're doing in there?!" she sounded desperate and furious.

You are filled with determination. You're ready.

You climb atop the towels, and scramble to the cold opening. You shiver.

_Crack!_

You reduce your figure, prepared to make an improbable jump. This is it.

* * *

You jump into the white world. You feel as though you're falling faster than the snow. You close your eyes. _This is taking a long time. Guess what they say about time slowing-down when you fall is true, huh?_ Finally, you feel your knees sink into six-inch snow, the rest of your body following suit.

_That was… not painful at all._ You almost forgot why you had jumped because of the impossibility that you were _fine_ after a fall like that. You heard a faraway ( _crack_ ) and a distant voice: "That bitch just fucking _jumped_!"

She sounded angry.

You ran into your neighbor's backyard, then through another and yet another. You kept running. Your socks were soaked, and your leggings were damp and freezing. Toes numb. Face numb. But you kept running. Eventually, you made it to a gas station/convenience store, and pulled out your phone.

The clerk looked at you bewildered, then nervously gasped, "Ahh, no, uh, no shoes, no service, honey."

"I'm not here... to shop... I'm running... for my life," you said quickly, gasping every few seconds. _I need to exercise more._

The poor clerk panicked.

"What happened?!"

"I don't know! There was somebody in my house. They bashed down my bathroom door with an axe." The clerk's mouth gaped. "I don't live far from here. If they saw me, there's a good chance they'll think I came here."

The clerk's eyes widened. "Well, that just won't do. Here, hide in the supply closet. I'll call the police." They sounded a lot calmer than they looked. "Here, this way, sweetheart…"

"What about you? If they saw me come in here, they might…"

"I'll be fine, honey. I know how to handle thugs," the clerk said, with a wink. They sounded so confident.

You entered the supply closet, still breathing heavily. They closed the door, and you were shrouded in total blackness. You looked at the phone still in your hand, and turned it on. A small amount of light filled the room.

_Much better._

You saw you had two new texts. One from Undyne:

**Fishalicious** omw

You giggled at the name you gave her on your phone. You hoped she'd never see the nickname- you would probably never hear the end of it.

Her reply was from fifteen minutes ago. _She must have responded right away._

The second message was from Whitesong.

**=:3** joy i cald police and sans. sans should be there soon. hang on please.

You didn't know whether you wanted to panic or if you were relieved by the notion that Whitesong called Sans and told him to help. He was the first one who found you in the alley: he saved you. You wondered if he was going to be okay, though.

You didn't know if texting Undyne right now would be a good idea. What if she was busy fighting the people in your house, chasing them, or… something else. But Whitesong was probably fine.

You decide to text her:

**:)** chica i am ok i ran to the convenience store at the end of the street

A minute later, you get a reply.

**=:3** thank god what happend? are u safe?

**:)** yeah, im safe i think. im in a closet hiding rit now.

**=:3** ok. ok. what happend tho?

**:)** they came in my house. im not sure how many ppl. i only herd 1 outside bathroom when i was in bath.

**=:3** ARE U HURT JOY

**:)** no. im not hurt. they broke down the bathroom door with an axe tho

**=:3** HOW DID U GET OUT

**:)** i jumpd out window.

It took a minute for her to reply again.

**=:3** joy isnt that a high up window?

**:)** sort of. but the snow cushioned the fall i gues.

**=:3** huh. well, i guess your fine. call or text me if something happens. ill call sans.

**:)** ok.

You sat in the small room, looking at your home screen. It was a selfie with a very nice monster kid, one who had protected another kid from getting hurt by humans. _All these monsters… they're so brave. They're so brave for helping others, and I've done so little to return their kindness… even now, they're risking their lives for me._

You shivered. Your socks were damp and cold, and the bottoms of your leggings were the same. You'd catch a cold if you kept them on. You removed the socks and tore off the bottom half of your leggings. _God, I'm a mess right now._

You sat in that room for what felt like hours. You texted Whitesong once again to tell her you were okay, and she responded: you shared a brief conversation before she said she had to go.

There were sirens outside, they came close and faded away. They would come close again, and fade away once more. You heard a dinging sound: the sound of someone coming in the store. You heard voices outside. You stood up, your feet feeling sore. Your heart was still thrumming from earlier.

_Knock knock._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I guess it's another cliff hanger. I didn't mean for it to come out that way, but the chapter was just getting a wee-bit long. I promise promise PROMISE we'll see Sans again real soon, SUPER soon!  
> Thank you all for the support so far! You all made me determined to keep writing this fic, and I couldn't be happier! I want to write down really quick the nations my readers are from, even if they only stopped to see if the fic was worth checking out: USA, UK, Canada and Australia; Germany, Spain, France, (Europe?), Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, Finland, Malaysia, Ireland, Sweden, Romania, the Czech Republic, Italy, and Singapore; Ecuador, Argentina, Chile, Philippines, Thailand, and Iceland!  
> Thank you all so much for reading! It means a lot to me!


	8. Expository Bone Pun Title

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, I apologize to everybody that I promised would see this chapter earlier- I had trouble getting it to come out the way I wanted, but I think I've got it the way I want now. I hope you all enjoy!

_Knock knock,_ they tapped again, this time vocalizing the knocks.

"Who's there?" was your response. You had no idea what could possibly be behind that door, and everything was muffled.

"You."

_You?_ You mused. _Oh no… is this a knock-knock joke?_

"You who?" you replied.

"Yoohoo! Time to open up, now, Joy." You didn't really think it was all that funny- just relieving. _Joy? They used my nickname, so does that mean I'm safe?_ Shaking from the cold, you opened up the door. On the other side stood a very familiar skeleton.

You smiled weakly: you didn't realize it a moment ago, but you were kind of dizzy. Your head was spinning, but you maintained the smile. "Hola, amigo," you sighed.

Upon seeing you, though, Sans' smile disappeared, and the lights in his eyes vanished, but a second later, they were back.

"What happened to ya?"

"A woman came into my house. Could've been more people honestly. No idea. She said to come out the bathroom. I didn't. She broke down my bathroom door," you murmured, summarizing the events that occurred in your home. "With an axe," you added.

"I'm not asking what happened at the house- I'm asking what happened to _you_. You're all… disheveled! Are you okay?" He seemed to stumble, trying not to offend you.

His concern caught you off guard: you expected him to make a joke like, 'oh, well, maybe she just _really_ had to use the bathroom'. You looked down at yourself: your legs and feet were _red,_ and had a few cuts on them. Your pants were still frayed from having torn them to separate yourself from the wet parts. Your hair was perfectly dry now. You never did anything to it, though, and as a result it formed a tangled disaster on your head. Your dress-sweater had twigs and dead leaves hanging off of it. In fact, you were certain your hair had sprigs sticking out.

You were fine now. Nobody needed to worry about you, you were okay. You were alive.

"Oh, you know," you said, forcing a smile. "When I don't brush my hair after I shower, I get what's called a _crow's nest_." You pulled a stick out of your hair to emphasize your point. The two of you began to guffaw, breaking whatever moment was happening before.

Sans took ahold of you and leaned you against the wall when you started wobbling. You noticed some policemen talking to the clerk, but about what, you weren't sure. Their voices sounded like they were in another room. Your vision blackened for a moment.

Sans snapped in front of your face to get your attention. "Heya, bucko, did ya hear what i said? Your eyes shot open. You didn't realize you had closed them, nor that you had apparently slid down the wall. You were now sitting, knees close to your chest.

"Huh? Oh, uhh, no, I-I'm sorry…" you could feel your face redden. Had he really said something?

"I said, did you run all the way here not wearing anything to cover your feet? No socks, shoes? No, uhh…" You swore you saw his face change color and beads of sweat form, but that might have been your vision going out of whack- you really did not feel good right now.

"...No pants?" You knew the moment he dropped that word, your face turned scarlet.

You desperately tried to find something to change the subject to, something quirky and clever to say, anything- but your mouth just opened uselessly. An 'umm' might've escaped, but the sound was drowned out by shouting.

"Joy, Joy are you okay?! You're okay, right?"

"Whitesong!" you gasp. You quickly lean forward and intend to run over to her, to embrace her in an 'Oh my gosh I'm alive' hug, but you collapse with one step. You yelp in pain.

You look down to where your foot is. It feels prickly, like tiny needles are being poked into it, but what's more alarming was that it looked like it swelled a bit. Feeling the dull ache, you winced. The action made the scars on your nose hurt, and your expression shifted to a grimace.

The police gazed your way with worried expressions.

You flinched as Whitesong put her paw onto your foot. Sans sat down indian-style, anxiously looking over at Whitesong, then to your foot, then you. His toothy skeletal smile never left his face, but you could see it falter slightly.

"Looks like you've got frostbite Joy," she said, as-a-matter-of-factly. The words sank in. You were afraid this might happen, but you hadn't planned on being outside for very long- heck, you really had only been out there for five, maybe seven or eight minutes. You examined your feet closer: tingling like needles, mild swelling, colored red, with the surrounding skin paled.

"It just looks like frostnip to me, Lop-" you caught yourself. "Whitesong." Sans seems to catch on that it's a nickname. "I should be better with a day of rest." Sans glanced over at Whitesong, then waggled his brow bones.

_Brow-waggling?_ It was then that it occurred to you that neither Whitesong nor Sans confided in you the nature of their relationship. _Are they together?_ Whitesong huffed at him.

Thinking the brief exchange between herself and Sans went unnoticed by you, Whitesong muttered, "No Sans. We're not going to tell you what the nickname is, right Joy?" You sat up straight when she directed her attention at you.

"Uhh, right Whitesong," you conceded. You really didn't want to start any sort of drama this morning- there had already been enough of that already, and it wasn't even 7 AM. "Umm, actually guys, as much as I would love to sit in the middle of a convenience store with two great pals-" Sans seemed to perk up at the mention of 'pals' his smile returning at full force, "-all day, I'd rather catch up on some sleep."

"That's a good idea, Candy Cane." The new nickname startled you, especially when it registered in your brain that it came from Sans.

"Candy cane?"

"Yeah," Sans said casually, winking at you all the while, "because you're red and white all over."

Glancing at your feet, you realized he's right: your feet had such a stark contrast to red and white that they almost looked like candy canes. You remembered the conversation you barely avoided a minute ago when he asked you if you ran here without socks or pants, grateful that Whitesong had interrupted before you had to respond. You felt like your feet weren't the only things that were white and red all over all of a sudden.

"O-oh, I see…"

The clerk walked over, noticing your missing articles of clothing. Peering over at you, the clerk gave you a subtle ok sign, mouthing the words, 'I'll take care of it.'

You were grateful for a lot of things just then, which reminded you…

"Whitesong, I seriously need to thank you again for cleaning my entire house. If you hadn't, then I would not have been able to make it out of there." She gave you a puzzled look, but she kept quiet so that you could continue. "The towels. I had to stand on the towels to climb out the window. If you hadn't cleaned the _towels_ , I would have been chopped up by an _axe_." You couldn't help yourself: you were giggling at how absurd it was.

"Honey, I don't think that's something to laugh about." Her tone was serious.

"No. You don't understand. If you hadn't done menial labor. In my house. I. Would have been. Split open. Like a block. Of wood."

"She's not wrong, you know," Sans remarked, chuckling with you. You could tell he was doing his best to antagonize Whitesong. _They sure act like a couple._

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "You two are insufferable. Maybe next time I won't call Sans and ask him to save your life, hun." She was wearing a buck tooth grin despite herself.

"That's okay," Sans said with a smirk and a wink. "You can just call me next time that happens. Give me your phone." You handed Sans your phone, and you wondered how on earth he could use it without skin: touchscreens respond to _heat_ and _skin_ , don't they? He seemed to be focused exclusively on the phone, expression blank, until he pressed a button. He paused for a long second, smile growing impossibly wide. He looked at you, trying not to laugh. "Who is _Fishalicious_? Wait, don't tell me. I recognize the number."

You didn't think your face could get any redder. You really didn't. But it was.

"H-hey! It's justsoIknowwhoI'mtalkingtoit'sjustanicknameshutup-"

"-You get flustered easily, don't you?" he replied, placing a hand on his cheek in a, well, cheeky manner. Whitesong was giggling uncontrollably at your suffering. They were such sadistic bastards. You groaned, squinting your eyes at Sans.

"Just put your number in and let's be done with this conversation," you huffed. Sans shrugged, seeming to concede. He still wore a shit-eating grin, but you decided it was probably best to forgive him. He came to save you _again_ , and whether or not he did anything to actually help, it was still nice for people to have your back. It was crazy, though: he knew you for a total of three days, and you've only really talked once at a bar and grill. You hardly knew each other at all.

Undyne was a police officer, it was her _job_ to save people. But Sans didn't have that responsibility: hell, he didn't even know you when Whitesong asked him to help.

You couldn't wrap your head around it. _Are monsters really this noble?_ Your thoughts immediately fell on your boyfriend and how _not_ noble he was; how he abandoned you.

You found yourself comparing your boyfriend and Sans:

Your boyfriend had practically known you ever since the barrier was destroyed. You didn't even know Sans at all when he saved you. He didn't know you, either. Your boyfriend ran away and tried to hide from danger the second it presented itself. Sans charged right into it.

There was knocking on your head.

" _Knock knock! Anybody in there?_ " Sans asked, bemused by your blatant staring. _Oh my gosh I was just staring at him he's going to think I'm the rudest dweeb ever-_

"As much as I'd love to participate in an unnecessarily-intense staring contest, I think it's time we split," he pointed out, sounding strangely resigned. You looked down in your hand and your phone was there again. _That's funny_ … _I don't remember him giving it back to me. Must've been when I was in that deep-thought daze._ "Need help up, pal?" His gaze never left your eyes, and as embarrassed as you were, you couldn't look away. Your throat tightened, and all you could do was nod.

He extended his left arm to you, hand open and inviting. _So he_ _ **does**_ _have five fingers._ You placed your left hand in his, and were brought up to your feet. He used his other hand to steady you, to support you in case you couldn't stand on your own.

His hand didn't really feel like bone, perse, you observed. You've felt bone before whilst studying the configuration and similarities of human and swine skeletons back in school. No, his hand felt more like a smooth stone. It was cold from the outside weather, but you could feel that it was emanating it's own warmth. _Monsters will never cease to amaze me._

You were still holding his hand when you stood up, and you absentmindedly began tracing his knuckles in small circles. He slung his right arm around you, and Whitesong stood on the right side of you and slid her arm across your back. Together, they held you steady.

Slowly, the three of you walked to the two policemen talking with the clerk. The policemen said that you could hang out in the cop car if you wanted to rest, and one of the policemen would hang with you. Whitesong interjected and insisted that it would be better for you to lay down in her car so that she and Sans could watch you. You nodded to the cops, affirming that this was okay with you. The officers consented to the action with quick nods.

* * *

Sans and Whitesong carried you out to her car (a pretty blue-colored toyota), and helped you lay across the backseat. Sans and Whitesong got in the front. They started talking about what your next move should be, but noticed that you were starting to fade out. You definitely had stopped listening, not for any lack of interest. You were just exhausted. You wished you could pay attention- it was probably pretty important stuff. Such as where would you go now that your house wasn't safe anymore?

You knew Whitesong's house was jam-packed: she had volunteered to take in a monster family whose house was burned down last year, and she simply had no room for you. The only other place would be the Daystay Shelter: a complex of homes for humans and monsters who are victimized by human supremacist gangs and cults. The thought of going there made you shiver involuntarily.

Many of your patients, both human and monster, had been forced from their homes by these humans. Many have remained at the shelter, not due to any financial inadequacy, but due to fear.

Numerous buildings were built to accommodate the influx of residents.

It got to the point that most people started calling the shelter the 'Daystay Apartments'. And maybe it was not a terrible thing that so many monsters were allocated to one place. It would, after all, be easier to keep an eye out for suspicious activity when there are so many wary eyes.

But you did not want to live in fear. You wanted to have hope that someday things would get better. But once the initial assault on you happened, things kept getting worse and worse. You lost your boyfriend. You lost the capacity to stride throughout your life without anxiety.

You lost hope.

You shivered uncontrollably, but it wasn't the cold that made you shake.

You realized that you would never have the freedom to live your monster-centric life without fear of retaliation. The thought alone made tears stream down your face, and the dawn became dark as you closed your eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, was it okay? Again, I really do apologize for the wait.  
> And also, I am sincerely sorry that the end of this chapter ended on a sad note. That's not what I had intended AT ALL SO I HOPE ALL YOU SINNERS HAVE ENJOYED YOUR FEEL TRIPS  
> :/


	9. Where You'll Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, I apologize about the shortness of this chapter- but it's out earlier than it would be, and I can now work on lucky chapter number 10! Love you all! (I promise next chapter will be longer, lol).  
> Also, this is probably a canonical shipping in my, uh, fanfiction. So, fictionally canonical: [Drunk Bunny/Sans](http://assortedjellies.deviantart.com/art/cocktails-and-dreams-slight-sexual-themes-585791350)  
> So yeahhhhh if nothing else, Sans and Whitesong have a history, LOL.

"Sans, they won't admit her unless she's conscious, bonehead," Whitesong whispered, punching Sans in the shoulder.

She had a point: the director of Daystay would need to be able to talk to Joy to get a living situation sorted out. "Whitesong, I know, but I can't just bring her to my house-"

"And _why_ not, Sans? Because you've got a boner for her-"

"-NO!" Sans' face flushed a deep blue- what if you weren't totally asleep yet? He turned back to look at you. You seemed like you were sleeping, at least. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Whitesong, I know what you're trying to do, and it's not working. And please, _don't say stuff like that_! I just don't have the _heart_ to embarrass her right now."

Whitesong pouted, sticking out her bottom lip. Sans chuckled silently: her buckteeth made whatever pouting she did look adorable rather than pissed off. "Fine Sans, but you have to stop with the jokes right now. We have to find someplace to take her, because, A: my house is too full to stuff another person in there, and B: she is _not_ going to sleep in my car! She won't be safe in my car, and even if nothing happens, she'll _flip out_ if she wakes up alone in my vehicle. Plus she'll freeze out here, and I just want to know she's safe!"

"The police can find someplace safe for her-"

"They'd take her to the hospital, Sans, and with how minor a problem the frostnip is, it'd be a waste of a hospital visit. More than likely, her insurance is not going to pay for this one when her last visit ended four days ago!"

Sans pinched two fingers where the bridge of his nose would be if he, well, had a nose. "If the director finds out I've taken her to my house, even for a day, Papyrus and I could be kicked out! You have to have a visitor's pass to get into the shelter if you're not a resident, and that's only open between 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.! It's not even 7 a.m. yet!"

Whitesong looked exasperated. She yell-whispered, "You don't think I _know_ that numbskull?! I've visited plenty of times before to check up on patients. I _know_ you don't like taking people with you when you teleport, and I _know_ you don't like anybody _knowing_ you can teleport. But she'll be unconscious! Well, probably. Besides, you're a smart boy. I'm sure you could cover it up anyway if she started to suspect something."

"Okay, but how am I supposed to get here _out_ of there?"

"That one's easy- just tell anybody who questions it that she dropped her pass somewhere. She visits Daystay whenever I do, so lots of monsters and humans are used to seeing us. It'll be believable."

"I'm sorry, Whitesong. I just can't risk losing our home. It's the only place I know Papyrus will be safe."

Whitesong and Sans sat in silence. Whitesong would no longer make eye contact with Sans. He could feel guilt seeping through his bones in the form of sweat. Whitesong turned around to look at you, and Sans heard her intake her breath sharply.

"Joy, are you alright, hun?" She put her paw on your forehead, but you were already asleep. Sans turned to look too, but Whitesong's arm obstructed his view.

"What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know," she said, defeatedly. "But she's crying."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, next chapter will be longer, I promise! :*


	10. Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait everybody! I got super distracted by Youtube, other fanfics, and I pretended to have a life for two hours yesterday (it was lovely while it lasted). But I've got it now! I'm not sure if I like it 100%. I'll reread this chapter when I'm not dead tired.  
> In any case, enjoy!

A dinging noise woke you up, and you looked at the grandfather clock: 10 a.m. You glanced around: vivid-yellow walls coated the top half of your bedroom, and the windows were a lovely chestnut brown. Light shone through, but only between dark, dark clouds. It was raining where you were now, which was unfortunate because you had work in an hour. Sighing, you rolled out of bed, gross and in desperate need of a shower.

Your home had two bedrooms and two bathrooms. One extended off of the master bedroom, and the other was downstairs, down the hall from the living room. You gathered your work clothes and headed downstairs for the shower. You were in and out before you realized it: _guess I'm still kind of tired._

You glanced at your phone, but it said 9:50 a.m. _Oh? I guess I mistook the time. Or the grandfather clock was wrong again._ Either way, you had more than an hour before you had to be in at work.

Suddenly, the lights in the bathroom sparked and were gone. You panicked for a moment, then sighed. _Just another blackout_.

You called for your parents: even though they were in the master bedroom upstairs, they'd be down to investigate any moment now. You couldn't see anything in the darkness, but you began to pull on your work clothes: black slacks and a t-shirt with a letter on it, and you located your work hat, with a similar letter pasted onto the front. You grimaced.

_I hate fast food with all my being._

You called again for your parents: it was taking them an awfully long time to get downstairs.

"Mama? Dadster? What's taking you guys so long? I'm starting to freak out a little bit, please hurry it up! I'm going to be going to work in an hour, but I won't be able to if I can't see anything!"

No reply.

"Mom? Dad?"

* * *

Sans softly thanked Whitesong for driving him all the way to the shelter, turned around, and stared at the slowly-brightening landscape: snow everywhere, at least six inches deep. Certainly more than that in some spots.

He adjusted you on his back: you weren't all that heavy for a monster with magic to carry, but you were certainly larger than him, so he had trouble keeping you balanced atop himself.

The phone in his hand bleeped, lighting up to show his homescreen. His brow bones raised in contentedness at the picture, and lowered in annoyance at the time. _Seven o'nine._ He scowled at the phone, wishing that there was another place you could go. He even tried, as a last-ditch effort, to jostle you awake right before he pulled you out of the car.

"Guess you were just _bone-tired_ , eh Candy Cane?" He smiled weakly at the pun. _Now's really not the time for jokes, numbskull._ He was a block away from the apartments, but even so, he could see them over the relatively short buildings surrounding the complex. "Time to get these old bones crackin'."

* * *

You heard a loud banging on the bathroom door.

_Knock knock_.

"Dad? Do you need something? I mean, you could always use the bathroom upstairs… ya know.. after you fix the lights and everything…"

_KNOCK-KNOCK KNOCK-KNOCK._

"Mom?! Gosh Mom, if this is another one of your ridiculous pranks I swear to god-"

You heard a cackle outside of your door: it was neither your mother's nor father's voices. "Your mom's dead, sugar."

* * *

Behind him, Sans could hear whimpering. He felt you nuzzle against his neck, and your tears ran down into his loose T-shirt. His jacket was on you so you wouldn't get cold, and Whitesong provided a pair of her work pants and a pair of socks for you. You'd still be pretty cold, but at least Sans didn't have to hold a half-naked human on his back.

His behavior was already questionable-enough as was.

As he weaved through the trees surrounding the tall concrete wall of Daystay, he kept alert for anybody who might be watching. It was still too early for anyone to _want_ to be up, but that didn't mean nobody was awake yet. Tentatively, he eased you to a clear patch on the ground. He checked to make sure you were still asleep, and peeked into a crack in the wall, trying to determine where the best spot would be to take a shortcut into.

_Behind that tree, behind that apartment._ Sans chuckled softly, and whispered, "Heh, those are really the only options I got, I guess. Alright pal, c'mon. Back on my back."

* * *

_This can't be happening. This really can't be happening, there is no plausible way this is happening right now what am I supposed to do?!_ You started punching the numbers nine, one, and one onto your phone, only for a robotic lady to ring out:

"We're sorry, but the person you are trying to call does not have a voicemail setup… goodbye."

You stared, astounded at your phone. "You've gotta be shitting me right now."

An axe came through the bathroom door with a loud _CRACK!_

You lowered your eyes down to your phone: 7:01 a.m.. then 7:00, 6:59, 6:58. _Why is time going down?_

As if to answer your question, the crazy bitch on the other side of the door shouted, "You're running out of time, honeybun! Say your prayers!"

* * *

The snow crunched underneath with the new and sudden weight on top of it: Sans had just teleported behind the nearest building. He peered around to make sure that nobody was watching. He took a few steps forward, turning around the corner of the building. Nobody seemed to be outside quite yet: but he had to hurry. He hopped, raising your position on his back, and trotted toward his home.

He stayed as quiet as possible, no sound escaping him except for small exhales and cracking snow. It would only be a few minutes before he reached complex B2, where he and Papyrus lived. He had considered texting Papyrus about you staying over for the day, but ultimately decided that Papyrus would be too loud about it.

As much as Sans loves his brother, Papyrus is terrible at keeping secrets.

Mere moments later, Sans stopped at his complex, trying to catch his breath. He was exhausted. No monster was meant to teleport this much in one morning. "Heh. No monsters were meant to teleport at all."

He began the ascent to the third floor of the apartment complex, to B29.

Sans's body began to rattle, straining under the pressure of another person.

"How'd I get into this mess, anyway? Twice I've saved your skin in the span of a week. You owe me big time, you know," he muttered breathlessly.

He reached for the doorknob to his apartment.

* * *

You thought the woman outside your door would have been faster about breaking down your door with a tool that was designed to break wood. The phone was still counting down at an agonizingly slow pace. You glared at it. _If I'm going to die don't make me wait for it, just get it over with already!_

You screamed for what felt like the gajillionth time that morning, your voice hoarse from the pitch of each scream. Sobs and laughter rang throughout the house. Multiple times, you tried to call the police. You tried to call your friends, but your phone deleted their numbers. You dialed random numbers, trying to get someone, anyone to answer. Each time, though, your phone came up with a different excuse.

It's no use. Each time the door cracks, your hope drains away from your body. Horror seeps in.

"Please, I don't want to die! I don't even know why you're doing this! Please!"

"Well, sorry, honey. I guess that's just too bad. Everybody dies someday. Might as well be today."

If you were quivering before, you were quaking now. Something awoke inside of you.

" _Why me? Why did you pick my house out of every house in this dingy town?! What the_ _ **hell**_ _is your beef with my family?!"_

The swings stopped suddenly. Total silence reigned. You heard a girlish giggle outside your door: that's way too innocent sound for a cold-blooded murderer.

"I guess you could say that I don't take kindly to monsters."

_What the hell is she talking about? My mother is a nurse and my father is a veterinarian! Nobody could be nicer than my parents!_ "My parents aren't monsters. I swear to god if you call them that one more time I'll… I'll…" you fumbled, giving away your fear. Your thin veil of confidence evaporated as the words fell from your mouth.

Cackles came from the woman. "You think I'm talking about your parents? No, I'm talking about the monsters. You're one sick human to deal with that lot, sugar pie~!" Her voice was so sweet and nice that it physically hurt you. Your face contorted in confusion.

"What monsters? What are you _talking_ about, monsters don't exist! I don't know what's wrong with you.. I don't know why you're doing this… but please… I just want to know why I'm going to die. I just can't understand." The woman sat silent for a short while, then resumed breaking the door down. Sobs escaped your lips, and you collapsed onto the ground. You curled up into a ball on the ground. This was too much: nothing was making sense. The phone said 3:48. 3:47.. 3:46…

* * *

Sans rushed you to his room at the far end of the apartment. You had begun crying more audibly, and he didn't want you waking up Papyrus, or alerting him in general. He held you up with his right arm while he fished for his keys in his pocket with the other hand. He found the key easily, and flipped it to insert into the keyhole: he twisted the key, turned the knob, and swung open the door.

"Geez. It's messier in here than I remembered. I guess I can clean up… later. Eventually. Tomorrow."

Sans laid you down onto his bed, stood up to lock the door properly, then flopped down on the floor next to the bed. He left a bony hand on your arm, patting it lightly, and as much as he wanted to keep an eye on you, he could hardly keep his socket open. "You're gonna be okay, Joy. I promise," he whispered, a grin snaking across his face. "You know, I was the one who saved you when you jumped from that window. You would have definitely broken some bones at least if I had not done anything. Go figure."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it's a short chapter. Much shorter than I thought it was going to be. Sorry again about the delay, it might be a day or two before I'm able to get the next chapter up for viewing!


	11. Your Time Is Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took a while to get this chapter written down, because I wasn't exactly sure how I wanted it to go. Everything takes place in the span of like, ten or twenty minutes. FML  
> Oh, yeah, and seriously, I'm still considering that Tumblr thing. I have no idea how Tumblr works, but that's what the internet is for, right? RIGHT?!
> 
> So hey, real quick, I wanted to say a really big **THANK YOU** to all you lovely people who have read my silly and unexpectedly depressing fanfiction (I totally had not intended for the heavy sadness, I swear).  
>  On fanfiction.net, I've reached over 5,000 views, and here I've reached almost 2,000 views, and I never _ever_ expected that in the slightest! Sooooo... THANK YOU ALL! Your comments, kudos, and just the _hits_ motivate me to do more, and make me love doing this so much!

The timer continued to dwindle until only a minute remained. 0:59, 0:58, 0:57, 0:56… the door had a gaping hole in it, but it wasn't big enough to get through. In moments, though, the woman would enter and murder you. You laid in a pool of your tears on the cold linoleum floor. You could hear the downpour of rain outside that would undoubtedly mask your screams. Only your assailant would know what happened here.

_I'm not ready to die. I don't want to die yet, I haven't done any of the things I wanted to do…_

0:20, 0:19, 0:18, 0:17...

With a deafening _CRACK!_ , the bottom half of the door flew forward, landing right in front of you. Your eyes had adjusted to the darkness, but the only thing you could see of the woman was black clothing covering every facet of her body, except for her eyes. You shone the light of your phone into her face, and her eyes were black and reflective, like those of a shark. The woman squinted at the sudden light.

"Looks like you've got only a couple seconds left, honey. I'll start the count: five," she drawled, shifting the axe behind her. "four." She raised the axe. "three." You were paralyzed. Nothing would move, and you began screaming. "two."

The axe came down in an instant, hitting you somewhere in the arm. Your screams echoed throughout the house, high-pitched and mortified.

"One." She took another swing, hitting you in the neck. Your neck was split open. Blood spurted outward, and the only sound that came from your lips were gargles and rasps. You wished the torturous pain would end. You wished everything would end.

Heeding your silent wish, the axe woman brought the axe above her head once more.

"...zero."

* * *

"Sans, what's going on in there? _Sans?!_ "

You were screaming as though someone was murdering you, and Sans couldn't figure out what was wrong. Sans began shaking you, repeating your nickname over and over until your eyes fluttered open, and your screams subsided. You were gasping in his clutch, trying to catch your breath and make sense of your situation. Papyrus was desperately knocking on the door, asking what was happening.

Sans looked into your eyes, asking, "Are you okay? Is there.. is there somethin' I can do to help?"

* * *

There was banging on the door, and with it, shouting. The volume made you recoil, squeezing your eyes shut. Someone was holding you steady, but you felt no less frightened. _When are these nightmares going to stop?_

Eventually, whoever was holding you let go, and walked in the direction of the noisy door. It opened, and you could hear muttering and what seemed to be the loudest whisper you've ever heard. You were able to take in the loud person's half of the conversation:

"Is.. is that a human, Sans? And is she alright? She looks as though she is under great duress, and I, The Great Papyrus will not rest until I know she is in good health."

You opened your eyes. Confirming what the loud one said, it was indeed Sans who was here with you. You glanced at the room around you: there was a treadmill in the corner, a desk with an exorbitant amount of trash on it. Well, actually, there was an excessive amount of trash everywhere in the room. You were on an almost too-small bed, covered up by a thin white blanket. Or, it might've been a bedsheet: it was hard to tell.

You were confused at your situation, but you seemed to be safe here. You would have been alarmed, but knowing Sans was here made you feel safer. Noticing your somber, quiet demeanor, a tall, slender skeleton marched over to you, a small smile on his face.

The towering skeleton inquired, "How are you feeling, human? Are you in need of assistance? Do you need water, tissues, more blankets, spaghetti-"

"-Uhh, I think. Maybe, uhh, water, would be, nice. Umm, thank you." The tall skeleton nodded enthusiastically, and sprinted for what you could only assume was the kitchen. Sans walked slowly towards you with a mixed look of concern and anxiety present on his face.

He stopped when he was right next to the bed, and sat down on the floor. Because of the bed's close proximity to the ground, the two of you were at similar altitudes. For a moment, the two of you stayed quiet, and the other skeleton returned with a much-too tall glass of water. "I assume this will be enough, human?" he asked.

You nodded, shakily taking the glass of water from his gloved hands. You sipped, coughing at the uncomfortable and immediate coldness in your throat. Sans's face contorted into one of pity, and he began to pat your back. You tried to take in more water, and this time went a little better: you spilled a little bit on yourself due to your shaking, but what you did manage to drink didn't cause you to cough out your lungs.

A moment passed, and you asked how you ended up there, and the tall skeleton- you think he said his name was Papyrus- looked over to the stout skeleton sitting across from you. Sans gulped (though you're not entirely sure how that could possibly be necessary, being a skeleton), and he proceeded to explain the events that occurred after you had fallen asleep, though he seemed to be leaving important details out.

"So, wait, how did we get into Daystay then? Visiting hours don't start until ten o'clock. And…" You got out your phone to check the time. "It's not even eight o'clock yet!" You checked your person again, looking for a necklace. "And I don't have a visitor's pass. And I assume neither of you have one. So how on earth did you get me in here?" Your heart began palpitate rapidly: if there was some hole in the security that a monster could get through, then surely, humans could sneak in here to cause trouble.

Papyrus looked at Sans expectantly, and Sans alternated between looking at Papyrus and looking at you, then shrugged.

"I have a shortcut," he replied, grinning toothily. You noticed his canine teeth were unusually sharp.

Anger welled inside of you at his answer. "That's not a good answer! What if some monster-hating humans saw you sneak in here?! They could get in here and hurt _a lot_ of people! I care too much about the monsters and humans who have to stay here to let this slide!" You didn't mean to shout, but being calm and composed were not your top priorities. Your voice began to waver, tears filling your eyes.

The skeletons sat there, quiet once more. Sans looked like he was going to give you another answer, when the sound of knocking came from somewhere else in the home. If Sans's face looked chalk-white before, it turned a ghostly pale. Sweat began to drip down his forehead, and he looked up to the armor-clad monster beside him.

"I'll be right there!" shouted the lean skeleton monster, trilling his r's impressively.

Sans stood up and grabbed the impossibly tall skeleton's scarf, and told him, "I'll go and get it. Papyrus, would you mind staying with Joy here? I'm sure she'd like somebody to keep her company while I go see what's up."

Resignedly, Papyrus nodded, and chirped, "Alright, brother. Go see who's at the door, and I'll be the greatest and most hospitable host this human- Joy- has ever met!" He hurriedly corrected himself from saying 'human' to saying your nickname.

Papyrus seemed so enthusiastic about everything he did, you noticed. The way he walked with confidence, the upbeat mannerisms he engaged in while talking, even the way he sat down next to you on the bed, patting your back with, well, too much gusto. Every pat was a little forceful, but you could tell he was trying to make you feel better. His earnestness made you smile.

"So, Joy, how are you feeling? Perhaps a little bit better than before?"

You had to think about it for a second, before replying, "Well, I suppose the answer has to be yes. But anything would be better than what I dreamt about." The memory was almost too much to bear: you hated thinking about your parents dying to the hands of some axe-wielding psychopath, but being trapped in a room with nowhere to go, and getting murdered while you could do nothing made you feel weak.

"So, you screamed because of a nightmare? My brother, Sans- I guess you've met him already- has nightmares from time to time. He doesn't like to divulge what the nightmares consist of, but I am willing to listen if you are willing to depart the details of your nocturnal horse." The last two words made you confused until you realized what he meant. You weren't sure if he was trying to be clever or was just overextending, but it made you smile a bit wider.

Carefully, you thought about what you wanted to say. You had learned by now that not all monsters are as they seem: while some monsters looked like animals, they were entirely sentient and could speak as intelligently as any human; other monsters could look well-developed but be astonishingly young. While Papyrus did seem to have a colorful vocabulary, and appeared to have the wherewithal to comfort you in your time of need, there was a definite air of youth to him that seemed almost childlike. You did not want to frighten him or say too much.

"Well… I was at home. With my parents… and somebody broke in and hurt them. And then they hurt me."

You figured this was all you could really say without getting too detailed. Talking about it made you feel a little better, though.

Papyrus looked at you with saddened eyes. "I am terribly sorry to hear that! It must have been very scary to dream about." He hugged you, and despite his chestplate smooshing up against your face, you felt relief wash over you in his embrace.

* * *

Sans looked out the door to find an old resident of Snowdin, now one of his neighbors, at his door. The mustached slime burbled warmly as Sans greeted him.

"Why, hello there, Sans! I simply came to make sure everything was in tip-top shape! My sons and I became worried when we felt vibrations of screams down here, and your home is directly underneath mine, so we figured it came from your home. Is everything alright?"

"Why, _jello_ , there!" Sans cracked a mischievous smile, and nodded, before quickly realizing his mistake to the other monster, and audibly affirmed that, yes, everything was, indeed, alright.

The slime monster garbled suspiciously, but blobbed, "Astounding to hear that nothing is amiss, good Sans! It really did give us a fright, but if you are certain that it is nothing, then I suppose I will simply have to look for the scream's source elsewhere. Good day, Sans!"

"Heh, hope you have _goo_ -d luck finding whatever screamed."

The slime monster garbled a scoff at his deplorable pun before oozily descending the stairs to, no doubt, look for the culprit of the screaming. Sans closed the door softly, making sure to keep his breathing normal. _Can't be too careful around slime monsters. They feel everything._ Maintaining his smile, he walked to the kitchen to grab a bottle of ketchup. _It's weird that Joy never said anything about how strange it was that I drank ketchup at Grillby's._ He chugged half of the bottle, returning it to its shelf alongside seven more ketchup bottles. He decided that he was too lazy to wipe off the ketchup from his chin, and imagined it would be _humerus_ to see if it could get a rise out of you. Well, as long as you weren't still mad at him.

His uncertainty turned into eagerness at the thought of hearing your amazing laughter.

* * *

Papyrus let go of you when you asked if you could have some tissues, to which Papyrus quickly complied. "We have a stockpile of tissues saved up, in case we have a human friend over! Our bravest human friend, Frisk, comes to visit very often! The tiny human lives here in the apartments as well!" He handed you a freshly-opened box of tissues, and you asked to go to a bathroom, so you could collect yourself. Papyrus nodded, complying by guiding you to the apartment's bathroom. You thanked him, and disappeared behind the door, making sure to lock it.

Your feet stung a little from the cuts and the frostnip, but upon removing some socks that you were fairly certain belonged to Whitesong, you saw that they had regained some of their natural color. They still looked like giant candy canes, though. You recalled that it was just getting light outside when you fell asleep, so it couldn't have been more than an hour of time to recover from the cold. _Maybe I won't have to lay down all day- maybe my legs are even better than I thought._

You looked in the mirror- you were an absolute nightmare. Your face was wet from tears, your eyes were red, your hair was hopelessly tangled.

Grabbing the tissues, you meticulously wiped at your eyes, your nose, your cheeks and mouth; blew your nose multiple times, and took only deep breaths to make yourself stop shaking.

There were still twigs and leaves tangled in your messy hair, so you began pulling them out carefully. On the sink was a very pristine hairbrush, which delighted you- but you had to wonder which skeleton used it. You hollered out, "Hey, is it alright if I use this hairbrush?"

"Of course, human! Brush to your heart's content!" replied a certain lanky skeleton. His sincerity warmed your heart.

You began brushing out the various tangles, starting from the bottom of your hair and moving your way up. The process took more than five minutes, and several times you thought the hairbrush was just going to be stuck in your hair forever. When you finally got all the tangles out, you looked at the result in the mirror: your hair was frizzy as all hell, but at least it looked semi-presentable.

"Guess this will have to do for now," you sighed. You pulled the socks back on, and texted Whitesong, thanking her for spare socks and pants. She didn't respond, but you rationalized that she was probably asleep right now, since she had work again tonight.

As you were about to unlock the bathroom door, you heard a knocking sound accompanied with the words, 'knock knock'. You giggled: _is telling knock-knock jokes Sans's favorite pastime or something?_ "Who's there?" you questioned.

"Patella." You smiled evilly: you had some time to cool down while you were in the bathroom, but you were still a little upset at Sans. Especially so, since he had avoided telling you the whole truth of how you got here. This was probably the best revenge you were going to get.

"What?" you asked, pretending not to hear. You heard Sans sputter outside the door, and you quaked, trying not to laugh loud enough for him to hear.

"P-patella." God, this was too easy.

You waited a few seconds for effect. "...what?" You heard him laugh nervously outside.

He replied more loudly than you've ever heard him speak: "PATELLA!"

You had to stuff your wrist in your face to suppress your laughter. You cried, "WHAT?"

"For the love of- PATELLA!" You could feel his agitation in the air.

You finally succumbed to your laughter, asking, "For-the-love-of-patella-who?"

Sans stood outside the door, quieter than a mouse monster. A minute passed. You couldn't tell if he was mad or if he was sitting in awe or what. You let out several giggles, waiting for his response. Finally, he deadpanned, "Ya know, I _was_ going to _patella_ joke, but your behavior has dictated otherwise."

You burst out in laughter, unable to keep any sense of decency about you. You snorted several times, which made Sans laugh even louder.

Papyrus's footsteps rang out as they approached the door. His disappointed tsks made you giggle: no subtlety with this skeleton. "You two seem to be enjoying yourselves. There is no _punny_ business going on here, is there?" You practically heard a smile stretch across his skull, when he began laughing as well. The three of you continued to laugh, until your giggles finally tapered off.

The door was unlocked; the doorknob felt cold under your palm, but your heart was warmed by the presence of the skeletons outside the door.

You turned the handle and stepped out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, finally a decently happy ending to a chapter. It was getting depressing there for a while. :/  
> I really hoped you all liked this one, regardless of my stupid opinion about it!


	12. The Culinary Prowess of a Skeleton

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, wow, so it's been over a week since I last updated. Whoops.  
> So, basically, what happened was I wasn't quite sure how to word everything, and I kept putting it off. I certainly have not been too busy, just lazy. Soo, sorry to those of you who keep checking daily! You bring me joy!  
> Also! I wanted to thank the reviewer (who I'll leave anonymous up here, since I'm not sure they want to be given any sort of shout out), who told me the cochlea is not a bone.  
> I guess that's what I get for not doing proper research on skeletal anatomy.  
> :/

 

You had barely set foot outside the door when your stomach growled loudly, like you hadn't eaten in years. Heat rose into your face, turning you a no-doubt obvious red color, incriminating you as the source of the offensive sound.

"Oh, Joy! You must be very hungry! Let me, the master chef Papyrus, make you a most extravagant breakfast!" Staring directly into Papyrus' sockets, you nod. His eyes were, unlike Sans', completely black. Sans had mostly black eyes, but white lights danced around inside his skull, so it was always clear where Sans was looking.

You wondered why they were so different, despite being brothers.

Papyrus exclaimed, "Does this human-" Sans clears his… throat? Sans clears his throat, and Papyrus straightens up. "I mean, do you, Joy, our lovely guest, have any particular requests for this culinary genius?" You think for a moment.

"Anything is fine by me, I'll eat just about anything at this point."

* * *

What you didn't realize would happen upon saying, 'anything is fine,' is that he would make you breakfast spaghetti. You cursed yourself for forgetting that not all monsters had learned human eating customs: it was one of the few things that monsters still had a bit of trouble adapting to. Most monsters eat whatever they want whenever: if they can put some magic into it or prepare it by magical means, they can digest it. So, it never really matters what they eat, when.

But for humans, or at least, the humans of your nation, nothing so savory would be considered breakfast, not by a longshot.

You smiled and ate it anyway, taking messy bites of breakfast spaghetti. Thank _god_ he did not use syrup or any other ridiculous breakfast condiment to outfit the dish, or you would not have been able to stomach it. No, it was just plain-old spaghetti.

It was very tasty, if nothing else.

And, it was just such a funny scenario: you never imagined you would be served breakfast spaghetti by a skeleton clad in battle armor and donning an apron. It was quite the unexpected turn of events.

"So, human- er, Joy, how do you like my world-famous spaghetti dish?" Papyrus' eye sockets sparkled with anticipation at your inevitably wonderful answer.

You politely swallow the last of it, holding up your pointer finger to signify you'll answer in just a moment. "...It was pretty good! Although I've… uh, never had spaghetti for breakfast before." Well, that was completely smooth. At least it was honest.

"Wowie! Another human loves my cooking! This is surely a sign of great fortune to come! Sans keeps telling me to work at my cooking prowess, to keep practicing, and I will become the greatest chef with the greatest, most expansive knowledge of cuisine on the surface! But it's difficult to gauge my progress, seeing as how the only other human that has tried my various dishes is Frisk!" he singsonged.

There was that name again: Frisk. You wondered if it was the same Frisk that freed the monsters two years ago. Your curiosity got the better of you, and you asked about it. Papyrus nodded, smiling widely, like he was reminiscing.

"Ahh, yes, our good friend, Frisk! The child who saved every monster in the underground! The human brought friendship, love, and happiness to every monster they met, and restored the weak hope that rang throughout the underground- Sans and I, well, we had a nice home. The cold never bothered us in Snowdin- but other monsters…" Silence instilled between you two for an uncomfortable moment, before he continued, "Other monsters had the worst of it. Most water-based monsters had to move away from the watery habitat of Waterfall, because the water was gradually draining. Once damp areas became dry. Not all monsters could fit in the grand aquariums in the underground capital, so some monsters had to remain in Waterfall. It was not a pretty sight for some of these monsters. Hundreds of aquatic monsters could hardly swim in the too-shallow water."

You cringed upon hearing the troubles of these monsters. You've treated so many monsters since they've come to the surface, but you rarely had an opportunity to talk about the deplorable conditions of the underground with monsters. For the most part, you never asked about it because you knew most monsters struggled immensely prior to migrating to the surface, and that it was a touchy subject.

The only monster you've talked about the underground with is Whitesong, but she mostly talked about how Snowdin had such limited food supplies and was always freezing. Not to mention how, just before they were freed, there was the threat of overpopulation.

Hearing the struggles of water-based monsters broke your heart.

Papyrus seemed to realize the gravity of what he had just said, because he hurriedly corrected, "Well, I mean, everybody had a tough time while living in the underground- that's why we are all so indebted to Frisk! I was, however, one of Frisk's very first friends down there!" He said it with such confidence and pride that it made you laugh heartily.

When you finished your spaghetti, you said, "Well, it's really cool that you know the person who saved everyone down there." Papyrus nodded and beamed at you. When you finished eating, Papyrus took your plate and brought it to the sink, washing it, as well as the rest of the apparatus used to make the spaghetti. A comfortable quiet filled the room, save for the running water and occasional clanking of a glass or metal dish.

You rose from your seat at the kitchen table, the dull throb of the frostnip mostly forgotten. Walking over to a window, you pressed your hands and forehead against the frosty glass. The hot breath exiting your mouth fogged up the otherwise clear window. Snow gently fell onto the apartments, the trees, and the gridded streets of Daystay, further blanketing the world in a crisp, white sheet. Some furry monsters and human children clad in striped shirts were playing outside, throwing snowballs at each other, building snow-monsters, and running around like there was no tomorrow. You recognized one of the monsters as the brave little monster who had saved a human, the same monster on your phone's home screen.

Seeing him playing with other kids filled you with joy.

You took this quiet moment to contemplate the events of the past week. You were attacked by racists, and sent to the hospital to recover. The attack left you with very blatant and unattractive scars on your nose and right in between your eyes. Your at-the-time boyfriend broke up with you, took all of his belongings from your shared home, and you haven't spoken to him, haven't even seen him since it happened.

You met Sans, who was the funniest person you knew- which wasn't saying much, because you didn't really know many people, aside from your coworkers and your family and friends in another state. He had saved your life at least once, and came to save you a second time, when that psychotic woman bashed down your bathroom door with a fireman's axe.

You were given a week off of work. Glancing quickly at your phone, you saw it was the start of the fifth day off of work, meaning you would have to return to work in just a couple of days.

_I wonder if I'm going to be able to go home to get a work uniform, or if I'm going to have to buy new ones? Or borrow them. Whitesong would probably help me with that._

You weren't particularly worried about your other possessions: your credit cards, birth certificate, and your most important documents were locked up in a heavy safe. Whoever broke into your home wanted to murder you, so you figured your other measly possessions remained untouched.

Something still didn't sit right about last night, though. Was there only one person, or were there more? Was Undyne okay? You hadn't heard any news from anyone about the outcome of all the events. Did your ex-boyfriend even know you were attacked just hours ago?

The most pressing question was of Undyne's safety. You didn't know if it was going to be polite to call or text her, so you resolved to text Dr. Alphys instead. Considering the extensive number of hours the dinosaur monster works in a week, she was probably busy. But she would be the first person to know if Undyne was okay.

It took no time at all for the hospital's head of the monster division to text you back:

**Dr. Alphys** : Don't worry, Undyne and the other cops are fine! Unfortunately, everything is confidential, so I don't know whether or not the assailants are in custody or if they got away- but I know Undyne is as healthy as a vegetoid.

Her response was mightily relieving. You heaved a sigh, and texted her back:

**:)** I almost don't care about whoever it was that broke into my house. I'm just glad everyone's okay.

**Dr. Alphys** : How are you feeling, by the way? Whitesong called earlier to say that you had frostnip, but otherwise, seemed fine. I know it's only been a few hours, but are you feeling a bit better?

**:)** I'm feeling a lot better, thank you.

**Dr. Alphys** : That's good to hear! By the way, Undyne told me she would be calling you sometime today to check up on you, and to ask you some questions- but since you're awake, you might call her when you're feeling up to it. And, I'd love to keep talking, but I have to check up on some patients. If you need a couple more days off, just text me. Gotta go!

The conversation ended more abruptly than you would have liked, but it couldn't be helped. You weren't sure you were ready to call Undyne, so you just sent her a text, saying that you were fine, and that you'd call her later. She responded with a simple, 'k, lady!'

You continued watching the children outside play until the front door of the apartment opened and Sans walked through. It surprised you: you hadn't realized he left at all.

Apparently, Papyrus thought the same thing, because he asked, "Sans, when did you leave? I thought you had gone back to bed after the events of the morning!"

Sans shrugged.

"Maybe ten minutes ago? I went to grab something." He pulled out a lanyard with a visitor's pass on it. A pit formed in your stomach.

"And how did you get that, Sans?"

"Well, let's see. I walked behind the counter of the receptionist's desk and grabbed it. You know, because I have opposable thumbs." He flexed his bony thumbs to solidify his point, smirking devilishly. Secretly, you thought it was actually pretty sexy, how his gleaming, pointy canines showed just barely, how his eyes were set at a sarcastic squint. He looked mischievous as all hell.

Trying to bring your brain back to the matter at hand, you rolled your eyes, saying, "Please, just tell me that you didn't steal it."

"Okay. I didn't steal it." He was lying. "Okay, well, I'd love to continue talking about this, but can I talk to Papyrus real quick? It will only take a second." You huffed, granting the short skeleton's request by rigidly striding into Sans' room in faux agitation, not bothering to look back at the skeletons. Behind you, you could clearly hear, "Sans! I can't believe you, now you've gone and upset the human- I mean, our guest- I mean, Joy!"

A soft giggle escaped your lips. You were starting to wonder if, maybe, you should just tell them your actual name at this point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, again, thank you ALL who have read this far! It means a lot to me, and I can't wait to keep going with this! And I'm still considering that whole tumblr thing, so stay tuned!


	13. Just Two Skeletons, Having a Conversation In The Kitchen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans briefly tells Papyrus about the trouble you've had over the last week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTES: Soooo I totally suck. I lost the motivation to keep writing for awhile, and I hope you can forgive me- I know this chapter is short, but honestly, I think if I do slightly shorter chapters now, it'll be better for both (all) of us: I don't have to stress over writing so much at once, and you don't have to suffer through extended periods of time with no story (aka my bullshit). Oh! And I also made a tumblr account for this fanfic, because I decided, "hey, if I'm trash already, I might as well settle into the garbage dump." And I mean that in the most affectionate manner conceivable, I assure you :3 The name is Flurry-Blue on Tumblr, if you can figure it out (I'm still working on that, lol).  
> I love you all, and I hope you enjoy this chapter, despite its fleeting existence!

 

Sans waited for the sound of his door clicking shut to talk to Papyrus. He glanced down the hall to make sure you were in his room. You were. Sans pointed to the kitchen table, walked to it, and sat down. Papyrus followed and sat down as well.

"This is gonna be really important, so you need to pay attention, k bro?"

"Of course, dear brother! Whatever is it that you wish to tell me?"

Sans, sighed, preparing himself. He tried to think of how he was going to tell Papyrus everything while he was out to steal the visitor's pass, but several pieces of information were too graphic for him. Leaving out some of these details would probably confuse Papyrus, though. He didn't want to frighten Papyrus, but Sans wanted him to understand.

"Alright, so Joy here has, uh, had some trouble with some mean humans over the last week. Some monster-hating humans." Papyrus gasped, fearing where this might be going. He nodded, prodding Sans to continue. "Early this morning, one or more of them went into her house and tried to attack her. She escaped, but there weren't very many places for her to go, so I brought her here."

"Much to her disliking, might I add," Papyrus cut in. He gave Sans a look that made Sans shrink a little bit. Papyrus relented.

"Well.. she, uh, she was asleep whenever I brought her here. So she didn't really have much of a say in the matter. But I figured it was better than freezing in the snow."

"I suppose you make a fair point," Papyrus remarked.

Sans thought for a second about what to say next. "She's really, uh, not supposed to be here right now, though. We never went through the offices to get her name signed on a slip of paper. Nobody saw her walk in here. So, even if she has a visitor's pass now, the people in the offices are going to question why they don't remember her coming in here yesterday. Or, at least, why they won't be able to find her name on any of the documentation required to get in here." Sans knew Papyrus knew what this meant. "If they find her here right now, we could get evicted. So, uh, it's really, very important that you don't tell anyone, even Frisk, even Undyne, that she was here this morning."

Papyrus looked defeated, but then he smiled at Sans.

"Alright, dear brother. I shall not utter a word of her being here this morning to anyone, be it Frisk, Undyne, or anybody else. But I have to ask: what is she going to do now? I don't see the harm in her remaining here for at least a little while longer. After all, we could do so many fun things, like puzzles!"

Sans shook his head. "No, but depending on how things go, maybe she'll come back." Seeing Papyrus perk up was worth throwing the 'maybe' card out. He presented a tired smile: he was exhausted from having not slept the night before. Plus, the rude wake-up call from Whitesong was not appreciated either- well, actually, it was. The grogginess was worth not having a mangled human corpse in the snow, especially if it was gonna be that of you.

Birds sang outside, and the gleeful shouts of children rang throughout the apartments. Papyrus seemed to be contemplative about something. "Whatcha thinking about, bro?" Sans quarried.

"I just feel really bad for Joy. So many humans in this world are so cruel to one another, and it simply… it makes me thankful that Frisk is nothing like the violent humans up here. If we had gotten a mean human instead of Frisk… we might not even be up here at all, Sans. We might still be trapped underground. Or, maybe we'd be here, but on worse terms with the humans… monsters might have felt just as much animosity to humans as humans do to us now."

Sans was taken aback. "B-bro? What's got you thinkin' about Frisk?"

"Well, I was speaking to Joy about Frisk while you were gone. How nice Frisk was. Well, _is_. Frisk is our ambassador, and even the humans are amazed at how passionate Frisk is about helping everyone get along. We couldn't ask for a better ambassador. A better friend." A glowing tear streamed down Papyrus' face, making Sans wince. He doesn't like seeing his cool little brother cry, even if it appeared to be a tear of affection. But Papyrus beamed, "We'll have to hang out with Frisk sometime soon! And maybe Joy can come, too!"

"Sounds good, Pap. Well, I guess there's really not much else to do. I'll go talk to Joy, see what she wants to do. Why don't you call up Frisk now? None of the kids outside have gone to school, so I guess it's cancelled. I'm sure Frisk would love to do some puzzles with ya."

Bright, glowing stars shone in Papyrus' normally barren eyes, signifying his delight. Sans always wore a smile, but being in the presence of his brother always brought out a genuine one from him. "I must call our greatest human friend immediately!" Papyrus leaped out of his chair at the table, knocking the chair over in the process, and bounded into his room, no-doubt grabbing his cell phone to text Frisk right away. Sans chuckled at the endless energy his brother seemed to exude. _That went well. But Papyrus always takes things well. Always the optimist- what a cool bro._

Sans stood up from his chair, using his magic to right Papyrus' toppled chair onto its legs. He didn't bother to push either of the chairs in though, leaving them at perplexing angles to the table.

He remained at the table for a minute collecting his thoughts. Skeletal fingers rapped on the table, doing little to help his thought process. His fingers clacked meticulously for a minute more as Papyrus' voice boomed in his room, but Sans couldn't focus on it. Worry gripped Sans as he struggled to get ahold of himself, sweat beading on his skull. Depending on how the next hour went, he could gain a really nice pal, or he could lose his and his brother's home.

_Or both._ He thought. _Alright… get ahold of yourself Sans. You gotta focus: this is gonna be the harder part… I really hope Joy isn't still mad at me, or this is going to be really difficult._


	14. You Get To Go Out With Sans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You go out with Sans so you can get in.

A hollow knocking came at your door, followed by a casual, " _knock knock_!"

Sans. Deciding to humor him, you respond with, "who's there?"

"Snowy."

"Snowy who?" You questioned..

"'S-no-way you're still mad at me, right?"

You opened the door, to find a short, smiling skeleton. His smile looked a little strained- like he was nervous. Comparing his jolly voice with his expression, it didn't match at all. You gave a smile to match his.

"No, I'm not too mad. I'm still worried that someone saw you sneak in here."

Sans stood for a moment, silently contemplating… something. You were about to speak, when he strode into the room with you, saying, "Even if someone saw me sneaking you in here, they wouldn't be able to replicate the method with which I got in, ya dig?"

You tapped your food impatiently. "So, pray tell, how _did_ you get in, Mr. Skeleton?"

Sans laughed,"Please, don't be so formal. Just call me Sans, Joy."

_Is Skeleton really his last name?_ You decided that wasn't important right now. "Alright, Sans-Joy, how'd you get me in here?"

He didn't respond to your not-joke- _did it even register with him?_ Sans' smile grew crooked, his eyes closed and his brow bones cocked. He shook his hands in a "jazz-hands" sort of way, and replied with, "Magic."

You gave him a pointed look, and he looked away. "I'm going to need you to be a bit more specific than that, 'migo."

"Sorry, that's all I can tell you for now. So, it's going to be eight o'clock soon, and I thought we should get going. We've gotta get you signed-in all proper-like."

"Don't I, you know, have to be _outside_ the apartments- I mean, the shelter in order for them to sign me _in_?"

"Yep. Don't worry, Candy Cane. I'm going to sneak you _out_ of here so that we can get you _in_ here, follow?"

You nod, still brandishing a no-bullshit look. "So let me get this straight. You snuck me in so that you could sneak me out so we could not sneak back in?" You tried your best to sound aggravated. It didn't work- your voice was wavering, threatening to burst into giggles.

"Yep." He didn't even sound contrite.

"Fine. Let's get going. But I've still got a _bone_ to pick with you, mister." You wink at him in the most cheesy manner conceivable.

He winks back.

"Throw me a _bone_ , will ya?"

Your heart was fluttering- why was it doing that? It wasn't like a winking Sans was at all _attractive_ or anything.

Nope. Not at all.

And it didn't help that, the more you thought of it, Sans _brought_ you in here. Meaning he must have _carried_ you in here. With his _arms._ Either draped over his body or resting in his arms bridal style- you knew your face was red already. Flashbacks to cartoons you watched as a child where a lady would be carried by the man she would inevitably marry in the end, as they always did. Their heroic actions had saved the damsel in distress. _Fuck,_ you realized. _I'm a goddamn Disney princess._ Despite that revelation, you found it bothered you more that you were just embarrassed about being carried by Sans.

And of course, Sans noticed. "So, do you humans' faces get red preemptively, knowing you're about to experience a temperature change, or is your face getting red for _another_ reason?" He wasn't turned to look at you, but he was definitely eyeing you, smirk saying, ' _I know what you're thinking._ '

Twisting the lanyard between your fingers, you walk outside of the apartment into the frozen air. You shivered- _it's freezing out here_! You wished you were wearing more than your bestie's cottony-green work pants, Sans' jacket, and a sweater-dress.

And a pair of Sans' slippers.

"Look, I just-" You tried to think of something. "I don't feel comfortable at all. Like, I'm in like, five different people's clothing right now, I look ridiculous. I smell like socks, cinnamon, sweat, and wet dog. At this point, I'm not really sure where _all of the smells are coming from._ And- wait, where are we going?"

"Uh, we can't just walk out the front door so that we can walk in the front door. Not in this place- remember, we just talked about this two minutes ago."

"Well, that makes sense, but why are we going this way, then?"

"We're going to a wall. The one I got in through." You paused at that.

"One does not simply walk through walls. Also, there aren't any significantly-sized holes anywhere along the perimeter of Daystay. Unless maintenance has been shit, in which case, they really, _really_ need to get that sorted out."

"I didn't come in through a hole in a wall or anything. Just… a _hole._ "

"So you dug in."

"Do I look like the sort of guy to carry around a shovel? I mean, I could, but then people would assume I dug myself out of a grave or somethin'. Also, that's sounds like more effort than I'm willing to put into anything." He looked around, as though he were watching for any spectators. You were walking towards the tall concrete walls of Daystay, but as early as it was, only kids and a select few adults were up. Nothing stirred along the edges of Daystay- everybody who was awake stayed in the open park space in the center of a cluster of apartments. You presumed it was to keep an eye on the kids, to make sure none wandered off.

_Or worse.. Get attacked by somebody._

You shuddered, wondering if it was always like this. That something would happen to disturb the fragile peace that permeated Daystay. Every time you had visited before, you could feel it somewhat, but now it felt as thick as the cold snow that blanketed the ground.

This whole situation just had you feeling all sorts of god-awful: cold, malodorous, scared, a little guilty. _I've never seen a monster want to hurt anybody. Only humans are cruel enough to induce this kind of helpless fear into these people._

Sans coughed, clearing his non-existent throat, and huskily whispered, "Somethin' botherin' ya, Joy?" The two of you stopped walking. You were in the middle of some trees, obscuring your view to the apartments behind you- you were standing adjacent to the tall, gray concrete wall.

You shook your head, shivering a little bit.

The two of you stood in silence, unmoving. Despite the cold, Sans appeared to be sweating profusely. "Is something bothering _you_? You're, uh, leaking. Is this typical for skeleton monsters?"

Sans turned to face you, hesitantly. "I, uh, I'm trying to figure something out. 's not exactly something I wanna talk about."

"Okay. So, are we going to get out of here, or just stand here looking pretty?"

"More like pretty ridiculous."

"Sans!"

"Hey, I'm just kiddin' ya, pal. Uh, so we skeletons have this power. 's pretty neat, if you ask me. You, uh, may wanna close your eyes though."

"Fat chance. I'm seeing how you got yourself in here."

"Alright," he said, winking. "Your loss. Try not to scream, it'll bring attention to ya." His left eye twinged a bright blue color for a moment, and suddenly, you were no longer touching the ground. Sans' slippers fell off your feet.

"Wha- what on earth?!"

"Heh. Not you."

"Sans! That. Is. Not. Funny."

"Really? I find it rather _humerus_."

"I swear to god Sans if you drop me I will-"

Before you could finish your thought, Sans' hand swiftly rose, shooting you upwards. You had to cover your mouth with your hands to stop yourself from shrieking, and continued upwards until you were flush with the top. You jolted to a stop, causing your head and stomach to ache. You swung to the side, and looked down.

You shouldn't have looked down.

Your heart stopped. You had felt this before.

This was identical to the sensation of falling slowly, like when you jumped out of the window. Just being mid-air, with wind hitting your face.

Slowly, you descended. Your arm brushed some leaves as you floated downwards. Snow fell in a powdery mist, much of it hitting your face, and it sent shivers down your spine. You looked at the white, clouded sky. It was almost blinding.

You came to a stop, but you weren't touching the ground. Blinking, you glanced below yourself. Only a couple of inches off the ground.

_This is so unreal...  
_ As suddenly as you had been lifted into the air, you abruptly fell, landing on your ass, effectively breaking you out of your thoughts. You heard the rumble of Sans' laughter coming from behind you.

"Didn't I tell you not to drop me, man?!"

"Nothin' personal, pal. Obviously, I don't lift things very often. Never, if at all possible." He emphasized his point by grabbing his bony arm. You glare daggers at him.

"Well, thanks. My ass hurts now."

"Looks fine to me."

"SANS!"

It took upwards of three hours to get everything sorted out at the registration desk. The moment you had walked in, Lori, the receptionist, looked at you in confusion- you were dressed peculiarly, you knew she hadn't missed that fact. You explained that you'd had a close call with an intruder, and Lori's face turned from confusion to understanding.

After that, she went to the back to talk to her boss, and Sans, meanwhile, walked behind the desk and replaced the Guest's lanyard in a desk drawer, and casually walked back. It took no time at all before Lori came back, with a change of clothes and some snow boots in hand. She looked at you sympathetically, and pointed you to the restrooms. You headed off to the ladies room, and, to your relief, it was just a one-person facility. You changed, headed back outside, and dealt with papers.

So many papers.

You were getting a place at Daystay, at least, temporarily. Until things settled down.

But when was that going to be?

When were these anti-monster assholes going to stop terrorizing innocent people?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, it's certainly been a while. Mostly, it's been writer's block keeping me from continuing on. I promise you guys, I'm finishing this story. I've decided on it. Also:  
>  **"You Get To Go Out With Sans"** as in **"You get to go outside with Sans"**  
>  :3  
> Also, welcome to Meme City, your primary source of all your memes. Also, follow this loser on Tumblr! **Flurry Blue** is the name! I don't update often, but I've been trying to change that ~n~


	15. Things Are Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You return to work at The Hospital of Humans and Monsters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo guys, I didn't think I'd be getting a chapter out today!  
> Especially since I did nothing else productive whatsoever, heh.
> 
> As always, you can visit me at TUMBLR BABY!!, or you can leave a comment here. Either way works for me! Without further ado, here's another **_LOVELY_** chapter! (it's not that great I mean honestly)

Light shone brightly through the green-curtained windows, casting brilliant rays upon the room. A Whimsun shivered in a bed, sensing danger. _I'm not a threat, I promise_ , you thought, not that thinking about it does much good. You sat in silence, humming to it, just like you were trained. It stopped its terrified shivering.

The Whimsun looked up at you, and, noticing your garb, relaxed noticeably. "H… hiii," it squeaked. You smiled back at the monster.

"Hi! Are you Ms. Cyna?" you heard yourself say. _Back into the routine of things…_ Nodding, the Whimsun gave a little chirp. "My chart says you have a broken wing… would you mind too terribly if I took a look at it? I promise I won't do anything, I just want to take a peek."

You had been through this sort of thing before. Whimsun are terribly worrisome creatures. They fret over every little thing. In fact, there were several living at Daystay. You knew how to handle them. You knew how to handle just about any monster. You and the other nurses and doctors were trained well.

You were chosen for your kindness and dedication, and it's all paid off: you were at the Hospital of Humans and Monsters… you were, truly, among the greatest nurses. And the doctors were as great as any other, if a tad more considerate. The hospital was more than well-staffed. Everyone received vacation days and wonderful salaries. Shifts lasted for twelve hours or less: nobody got overworked. And everyone, including the patients, benefited from this.

That was the philosophy of Asgore Dreemurr.

It was supposed to be a joyful, if seemingly impossible place.

But then, there it was again. _I should be happy right now. This is what every nurse dreams of: helping people without feeling exhausted, or like our efforts are in vain._

You were not sad or particularly angry, either, you thought. None of those emotions even felt remotely present.

Mostly, it was fear that occupied your days.

Anticipation.

You had started eating meals at the hospital, rather than going out, when you were on break. For the past week, Whitesong had been encouraging you to leave the hospital, but you just couldn't force yourself to.

"W-will my wing be o-okay?" You blinked with a start- _dammit, I should be focussed right now. Right. The wing._ You took a shallow, shaky breath.

"Well, I should think so, miss. This is pretty common among monsters, and humans too. We humans break our bones sometimes, but with time, we can heal. The same is true for monsters. In fact, monsters heal considerably faster. You should not only have a recovered wing in just a couple of days, but also be flying about, just as you did before you broke it! But, for now, just take it easy, and eat whatever the other nurses give you. We'll let you know when it's safe to fly again."

"Oh, goodness! Thank you, nurse!" she squealed gleefully. You nodded and said farewell to the little monster, promising to check up on her later. Closing the door behind you, and writing yourself a quick reminder to make good on your promise, you continued on to your next patients.

It was uncomfortable walking around the hospital sometimes, you realize. Not that you were especially anxious (maybe a bit shy), but you knew the other nurses and doctors were talking about you each time you passed. Of course, they truly felt sorry for you, and several had expressed their support and ' _are you okay_ 's, but they were worried too. About not just themselves but their families, too.

What if they got attacked?

Or what may be more likely: _who was next_?

You continued making your rounds, visiting patients, aiding, comforting, assuring, feeding, washing, saying farewells, both jovial and sorrowful.

It was life as a nurse.

Eventually, it was time for a break. Your legs took you toward the hospital cafeteria while your mind wandered. Down several flights of stairs. Through multiple hallways. Through memories of this hospital, and your first hospital. How grateful you should have been.

How lucky you were to be here, in terms of your career, and your life.

Your mind wandered through endless avenues of thought. Contemplation for what could have been, and remorse for what had been.

Inside one of the rooms, you saw him. Your.. ex-boyfriend. He was sitting, conversing with two other nurses, smiling like nothing was wrong.

A rumbling distracted you from him. _Oh, right. Lunch._ Sighing, you continued onward toward your destination.

You stopped in the cafeteria, falling into the short line. It was just past lunch, and everything had slowed down a bit. There were only ten people ahead of you. _Another day of this. What I wouldn't do for a burger right now._

Suddenly, you're grabbed by the shoulder, and pulled back to one of the farthest tables in the cafeteria. You were already pushed down into a seat before you saw who dragged you this far back and- oh.

"We need to talk, chica."

You were taken aback by how coldly she was speaking. "Whitesong, for the last time, I'm not going out there."

"Joy, hun, you don't have a choice in the matter. You're not gonna be alone. I'm going with you, and I'm sticking with you. We're going to eat something ungraciously unhealthy for a change, and we are going to enjoy it, dammit," Whitesong gasped. "And besides, I got this. And I have yours, too."

And with that, she threw your can of pepper spray at you, the same as it looked when you left it at your house.

… Oh. That probably would have helped to have on you before.

"...Whitesong, I know I'm being unreasonable, but I'm not going to leave," you whisper, voice cracking. "It doesn't matter if you're with me. You'll be targeted as much as I will. I don't know what I would do if I let you get hurt because of me…"

"I wouldn't get hurt because of you! I'd get hurt because there are monster-hating assholes in this world, whether we like it or not. I've been going out everyday for lunch for the last month, and nothing has happened to me. But the fact remains, I'd rather go out with my best friend than for both of us to be miserable," she coldly states. She grabs your shoulders with her almost human paws. "Look at me, Joy."

Obeying her, you gazed straight at her intense eyes.

Whitesong took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Opening them, she gazed right back at you. "I'm not going to let you be afraid for the rest of your life. Not because of one or twenty assholes. So, are you coming with me or not?"

You couldn't believe she talked you into it.

It had been simple enough. Whitesong took you to her car, started it up, and left the parking lot. You asked her where you two were going.

She gave you the most incessant smile ever conceived by anyone, ever: "I dunno."

In defeat, you heaved a sigh, looking out the passenger window. Tall buildings passed by. Humans and monsters walked along the streets, apparently indifferent to one another. Of course, there were the occasional groups that consisted of both humans and monsters. There, too, were some humans that were less than thrilled to be sharing sidewalk with monsters.

But for the most part, it was peaceful. Relieving, even. You'd been silly to be so worked up about leaving for lunch. After all, you'd driven to and from work by yourself for the past couple of days.

Again, you were removed from your thoughts when Whitesong's little car came to a stop. You looked up to figure out where you were at. Your view was obscured by the driver, however.

Whitesong, in turn, looked at you, bearing an amused look that you couldn't quite figure out. Like she knew something you didn't. "Why are you staring at me like that, Lopunny?" you asked, teasingly. She laughed pleasantly- oh yeah. She definitely was hiding something from you.

"No reason. So, are you game for some burg?"


	16. Burgie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You eat out with Whitesong (your bestie) and Snas. And he invites you to hang boi

Of course she brought you here. Where else would she have taken you? Grillby's was really kickin', filled to the brim with monsters, some of which you recognized from last time. _Guess monsters have busy Fridays too, huh…_

Whitesong pulled you through the packed room to a booth on the right. She sighed heavily, reminiscing, "Just like in the underground…" She waved one of the servers over, a young dog monster with sweat on his brow and splots of sauce on his apron. "Hey, Yorkie, me and my friend would each like to have a burg." The monster looked confused for just a moment, sniffing at the air. Recollection spread across his face, and he barked an 'aye-aye, Debbie!' with a playful salute and a wink, then trounced behind the counter and into the kitchen.

I look at Whitesong, feeling about as confused as, er, Yorkie had looked a moment ago. "...Debbie? Is that a nickname, or did he confuse you with someone, orrr-"

"Actually, Debbie is a convenient simplification of the letters 'D.B.' which stand for 'Drunk Bunny'. It's what we called Whitesong in the underground-"

...Sans?

...Did she plan this?! For Sans to be here? The memory of your last encounter with him brought your face to the boiling point. _God dammit I know he playfully flirted with me, he carried me, it was almost romantic as fuck but goddamn it you're an adult who doesn't swoon over circumstantial situations in which your skeleton friend saved your life. It's cool senorita. This. Is. Fine. Don't. Goddamn. Blush everywhere. You've been blushing SO MUCH FOR NO REASON AND-_

Once again, you're broken out of your thoughts by the realization that a conversation is happening and you're not in it- between Whitesong and your new unapproved favorite subject. "Sans, I don't even drink that frequently anymore-"

"Only every weeknight now compared to 24/7 before, a remarkable mark-down from just a few years ago. How much we've grown in these last couple of years~~"

"Ha! Haaa! Okay, I get it, it's pretty funny, _Debbie_ , but we don't have the time to make fun of each other- we're on a tiny bit of a timer now. But, we'd be delighted if you'd join us." You tried sounding casual and cool, which, surprisingly, worked, or so you think. All that emotional duress really wore you out, but you suppose it's not a bad thing at this point.

Sans smiles in a friendly way. "I'd be happy to join you guys. It'll be nice to hang out while shit isn't hitting the fan."

"Or an axe isn't hitting the door."

"I hear that," Whitesong says. "You know so damn-well I hear that, chica," she laughs.

The three of you talk for a few minutes until the burgs arrive, an extra one brought to Sans, along with his usual order of a.. Uh, an entire bottle of ketchup. You decide to not inquire about it due to the shit-eating skeletal grin beside you.

You all enjoy your food in relative silence, just appreciating the patrons around you, several of which you're surprised are also human.

Sans sees you gazing at the other customers, and asks, "Know any of them?" He seems nervous, but that just might have been his way of expressing that he's full.

You shake your head. "Don't know even one of them."

"Yeah, I suppose that makes sense." It stays quiet for a minute longer, until you swear, something happened underneath the table, making Sans perk up. He chuckled, although you swear you saw his head sink just a little. His chuckle trailed off, and he looks at you and asks, "So, Joy, uh, Whitesong told me you've been feeling kinda.. Trapped? I understand that feeling. I mean, like, being in Daystay is nice, but it's rough at the same time. I know we literally live one complex away from each other, but if you'd like to just get out, you can come hang at my apartment. I know Papyrus would be overjoyed- heh, over _joyed_ \- to have you over to do a puzzle or something. Feed you dinner or something." He seemed much more confident once he finished that compared to when he started, but you paid it no mind.

"O-oh! That sounds nice, actually. You can probably count on me coming over sometime, definitely."

"Just make sure to give us a heads-up before you get there- I tend to worry when some stranger goes knocking on my door."

"No problem. Thanks for the invite, Sans." You grinned shyly at your half-eaten burg, realizing it pleased you that you could hang with Sans whenever.

Whitesong smiled from across the booth, an evil little buck-toothed grin that was hiding something, but she covered it up quickly by saying, "Aaaand now that we've got _that_ out of the way, how about some drinks on me?"

"WHITESONG, NO-"

"HAA! I'm just kidding! We've gotta be back to work in ten minutes, Joy. You done with that burg?" You look down at your plate, and push it away.

"Yeah, I think I'm ready to go. You have a good day, Sans! C'mon Debbie, let's go."

"I am going to kick you out of my car if you ever say that to me again, Joy m'boi. Let's get going already. And, bye Sansy."

"Heh. Later, Debbie; CC."

You and Whitesong walk out to her car, and you keep thinking to yourself- _CC? What does that mean?_

Without even having to bring it up, Whitesong says, "You know, that could have stood for 'Cutie-cakes', 'Cuddle Cloud', or… ' _Candy Cane'_."

You sit yourself in her car, buckling up, in silence for just a moment. … _.Goddamn it._ There aren't enough nicknames in this world, apparently.

When you got home after the rest of your shift, you're stuck with looking at your phone, trying to find someone to text or talk to. Whitesong's gonna be on for a couple more hours, Dr. Alphys and Undyne are undoubtedly busy. You could message your friends back at home, or your mom and dad, but you decided who you really wanted to talk to was Sans.

It's been pretty inevitable lately- you can admit to yourself you're… _fond_ of Sans. You're not sure you're specifically into him, but you can't deny that you just have a _thing_ for him. His cocky demeanor and genuinely dumb humor makes him vastly different from your ex, but somehow, incredibly appealing. You loved how sweet and honest your ex was, but Sans was another ballpark of.. Mysterious? You know that's a loaded word.

Mysteries are made to be solved, and you weren't sure you wanted to know how he threw humans around, banging them against a dumpster, or how he can make shit float- wait a minute, those things actually correlate, don't they?

Welp.

But, you suppose it's not really the things he's capable of that puts you off- it's his inability to be honest about it. He kept trying to hide his powers, kept being nervous, which worries you.

You're not an idiot. You went to school to be a damn-good nurse, and you thrived because you were intelligent and worked hard every day. Sure, there were social mountains you had to climb to get by, but those were everywhere- the point was, Sans was trying to hide things from you, which was, frankly, unacceptable.

You're not blinded by the fact he's saved you twice that you'll simply accept everything he says, you decide. But you want to give him that chance, because he's so engaging- he's cocky and confident without being a total asshole. He's funny as hell, he's attractive, he's sweet, with a tendency to worry, or so it appears.

And he's damn more-reliable than your ex, who couldn't stick it out with you once the going got rough.

You lay down in the still-unfamiliar bed, and raise up your phone to text Sans.

**:) Hey, how's it going? This is Joy, and I was wondering if it'd be cool if I hang out later this evening? Past 8, maybe?**

He took a minute to respond, but he replied,

**Snas: Uh, well, I would say yes, but Papyrus goes to bed at 8, and I don't wanna wake him up if it's past that time.**

Your heart sank. You really were excited to take him up on this offer earlier.

**Snas: Although, if ur up to it, I could come over, and we could hang for a bit. I can. Bring over crosswords? If that sounds cool?**

You brighten up over this offer.

This is much better.

**:) Yeah, that actually sounds great. See you later?**

**Snas: It's a date. See ya.**

…

…

…

He sat next to you in the diner, rather than next to Whitesong- clear indication they're not together.

He's saved your life twice.

He low-key but not really complimented your butt multiple times.

…

" _Oh my god this is a date."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it's been like, a year almost. Since I posted a chapter. Honestly, it was mostly depression that kept me from posting any more. I started hating my first chapters, then my work. I hated working on it, and in fact, dreaded it. But I don't feel that way now. I read through it all, and i made large improvements to my standards. This is the longest I've ever written about anything which makes me proud of myself.
> 
> I want to thank everyone who's given the time to just click on a silly Bone phrase and give me such nice compliments-- even the stats regarding this story inspired me to write more, and for that, I'm so grateful, guys. I want to finish this. I truly do, but I suppose only time will tell. And, on that note, I'd like you all to have a wonderful day!


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